In the intellectual confusion prevailing since the demise of Marxism and “marxism”, the attempt is made to define democracy as a matter of pure procedure, explicitly avoiding and condemning any reference to substantive objectives. It can easily be shown, however, that the idea of a purely procedural “democracy” is incoherent and self-contradictory. No legal system whatsoever and no government can exist in the absence of substantive conditions which cannot be left to chance or to the workings of the (...) “market” but must be posited as objectives of political activity. The confusion results from a deficient understanding of what makes a society and an empty idea of “freedom”. The objective of politics is not happiness, an affair to be left to the individuals, but it certainly is liberty understood as participation in the governance of the polity; it is also the pursuit of the common good, defined as the sum of the prerequisites and facilitations of individual autonomy depending on collective action, and as the realization of commonly agreed collective goals. (shrink)

Americans believe in the criminal jury as a vehicle of democratic participation as well as a bulwark against state oppression. Racial and gender discrimination poses a threat to the ideal of democratic participation. The vehicle for discrimination is the use of peremptory challenges against candidates for the jury. Since 1986 the Supreme Court has tried to work out rules restricting the use of peremptory challenges. One problem has been the extending application of the principle of non-discrimination to tactical decisions by (...) defense counsel. Another has been the determination of the groups that will be protected under the principle of non-discrimination. The articles criticizes the Supreme Court's ignoring the kind of considerations that motivate lawyers in picking a jury. In the end the conflict is one between egalitarian ambitions and protecting the liberty of the accused. Amerikaner sehen in Geschworenen sowohl Träger demokratischer Mitwirkung als auch ein Bollwerk gegen staatliche Unterdrükung. Diskriminierung in bezug auf Rasse oder Geschlecht stellt eine Bedrohung für das Ideal demokratischer Mitwirkung dar. Ein Einfallstor für Diskriminierung sind die "peremptory challenges" gegen Kandidaten für das Geschworenenamt, das ist das Recht u. a. der Verteidigung, solche Kandidaten ohne Angabe von Gründen rechtswirksam abzulehnen. Seit 1986 hat der Supreme Court versucht, Regeln zu entwickeln, die den Gebrauch der "peremptory challenges" einschränken. Dadurch entstehen Probleme. Ein Problem ergibt sich aus der zunehmenden Anwendung des Diskriminierungsverbots auf taktische Entscheidungen der Verteidigung, ein anderes aus der Bestimmung der Gruppen, die vom Diskriminierungsverbot geschützt sein sollen. Der vorliegende Beitrag kritisiert, daß der Supreme Court es nicht berücksichtigt, von welchen Überlegungen Anwälte sich bei der Auswahl von Geschworenen leiten lassen. Letztendlich handelt es sich um einen Zielkonflikt zwischen egalitären Bestrebungen und dem Versuch, die Rechte des Angeklagten zu sichern. (shrink)

This paper illustrates the demand for recognition by peoples through an analysis of the partnerships between researchers and Inuit communities in Canada and Alaska. One of the great questions concerns work in the field, namely to identify the most appropriate forms of interaction between researcher and informant, to recognize the multiplicity of indigenous voices, to avoid inappropriate generalizations, and to approach generational disparity.