A Lesson in Democracy ... From Slime Moulds
A Lesson in Democracy…from Slime Moulds Originally published by The Crick Centre and republished by The Policy Space, 16 December 2015. [This short essay concerns the first type of life that I began investigating with the theory of non-human democracy which posits, in short, that democracy is not solely a human invention/discovery, that it does […]
Huron Socialism: A New Political System
Huron Socialism: A New Political System Originally published by AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 8(2), 2012, Pp. 115-127. [There was, aside from intellectual curiosity, a personal reason for writing this essay—my family has historic ties to one of the Huron clans that came to settle in Wendake, Québec, after they lost the “Beaver […]
Gaddafi and Libya – a case for just intervention?
Gaddafi and Libya – a case for just intervention? Originally published by openDemocracy, April 1, 2011. [This short essay was borne out of an urge to “speak out of” the expression of international democracy that I saw happening in how many people, around the world, were relating to Libyans and vice versa during their moment […]
Globalizing the Intellectual History of Democracy
Globalizing the Intellectual History of Democracy Originally published by Democratic Theory, 7(1), Summer 2020. Pp. 99-107. [The drive for this conversation, with Professor Samuel Moyn, came in most part out of a trend I had been observing in the democratic theory literature. There is a double dynamic at play, particularly over the last 15 or […]
Democratic Theory and Theoretical Physics
Democratic Theory and Theoretical Physics Originally published by the Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 6(2), 2010. Pp. 1-22. [This journal article was written in the end game of the doctoral thesis I was, at the time, writing whilst an intern at the International Labour Organization in Geneva and, later, at my doctoral alma mater the Queensland […]
An Intervention on ‘Democracy’ as a Term in Empirical Political Analysis
An Intervention on ‘Democracy’ as a Term in Empirical Political Analysis Originally published by Public Administration and Policy, 15(2), 2012, Pp. 68-92. [A Sartorian gripe, this was. I challenge anyone who has read both Sartori’s early book Democratic Theory (translation of his Democrazia e Definizione) but also both parts to his 1987 book The Theory […]
A right royal rip-off – how much should Commonwealth nations pay for the Queen’s Jubilee?
A right royal rip-off – how much should Commonwealth nations pay for the Queen’s Jubilee? Originally published by The Conversation, February 7, 2012. [This short essay actually resulted from a heated debate during a dinner with my family. One member, to remain nameless, is a staunch monarchist. The rest, sensible, gracious, (of course in my eyes), democrats with […]
A Potential Demarcation Between “Old” and “New” Democratic Theory?
A Potential Demarcation Between “Old” and “New” Democratic Theory?: An Attempt at Positioning a Segment of the ExtantLiterature Originally published by Social Alternatives, 30(3), 2011, Pp. 5-9. [I wrote this for a special issue that cultural sociologist, and old friend, Nicholas Osbaldiston proposed. The piece was inspired by John Keane’s Life and Death of Democracy, […]
A New Analytic Tool Originally published as the Introduction of Evolutionary Basic Democracy: ACritical Overture, 2013, Pp. 1-14. [I am now in the process of writing my fourth book, Democracy’s Linguistic Artefacts: The Future Science, and can’t help, after reading this first book of mine again, to feel that it is very much a young […]
Constitutional Legitimacy: an International Ill and Gap in the Literature?
Constitutional Legitimacy: an International Ill and Gap in the Literature? Originally published February 25, 2011, by the Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (online April 1, 2014). [This short essay is now, thankfully, due for an update. Advances in the academic literature on constitutions and their democratic legitimacy but also the uptake of democratic innovations […]
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