Health Democracy and Storytelling:A Synthesis of Knowledge

Aims:Health democracy requires tools and methodologies to involve non-scientific actors in the development and implementation of health policies.Storytelling could be one of the tools to make health democracy effective.Our aim is to describe how storytelling is used in relation to health democracy,the aims of its use,the methodology adopted and the results obtained.Procedure:We conducted a narrative review of the literature.Our search equation was composed by the keyword“narration”and its variations“récit de vie”,“histoire de vie”and“medécine narrative”and by the keyword“démocratie en santé”/“démocratie sanitaire”.Results:We obtained 135 results and included six articles,published between 2015 and 2022.The interest of storytelling in a health democracy approach concerns six main themes:a)the plurality of experiences;b)empowerment;c)the recognition of different types of knowledge;d)the involvement of all care actors in care;storytelling as a lever for change;e)in the care pathway;f)in health policies.Conclusion:The limited number of articles included in this literature review raises questions about the diffusion of the concept of health democracy associated with that of storytelling.Storytelling can contribute to the dissemination and effectiveness of health democracy:it is a complementary tool to quantitative tools for understanding the experiences of users of the health care system,and its use is particularly relevant to chronic diseases such as cancer.

A Democracy That Works Western democracies have failed to address people’s livelihood concerns while the Chinese practice has made notable achievements

More than 200 scholars,researchers,former government o!cials and party leaders from over 50 countries gathered in the sprawling building of the Chinese Academy of History in Beijing on 20 March for the third International Forum on Democracy:The Shared Human Values.The forum debated the concept of democracy,its trajectories and prospects,and,more importantly,how it can be made to work and deliver tangible results for di"erent countries.

The Construction of Mistake-tolerant Democracy Based on the Practical Right ＂Right to Trial and Error＂

The law ＂Trial and Error Ordinance＂ enacted in 2006 and spreading throughout China especially since 2016 is the best starting point for China＇s democratization, because Chinese government officials cannot be confronted with their new challenges directly without the right to trial and error. This study has tried to build a new democratic theory, mistake-tolerant democracy based on the right to trial and error with Chinese characteristics and Western value to guide Chinese democratized way. The right theory of mistake-tolerant democracy is the new right paradigm, ＂the right to trial and error as an original right and mutual empowerment theory＂ proposed by the combination of the state of nature and the scientific method of trial and error rather than natural right theory and social contract theory. Mistake-tolerant democracy emphasizes that the people have the equal right to trial and error as an original right, and the officials＇ right to trial and error are granted ＂from the people and should empower the corresponding rights to them, which is the meaning of mutual empowerment theory.

Solving the Century Problem“Modern Transformation of China’s Traditional Confucianism”—A Mistake-Tolerant Democracy Perspective

The reason why Chinese scholars cannot bridge between Confucianism and democracy as a century problem since 1920s is that liberal democracy has two fundamental defects:Human beings born with wisdom have known rights before entering societies,which is contrary to Confucianism;separation between politics and religions has led to religious ceremony of confession far away from politics.Mistake-tolerant democracy whose right theory is the right to trial and error as an original right and mutual empowerment theory can overcome above defects.Liberty is divided into the right to trial and error as an original right in innovative fields which can be transferred by contract and unalienable liberties in non-innovative ones.The spirit and behavior of self-criticism to people like confession is a virtue which meets Confucian moral requirements of becoming a Saint and politician’s obligation required in mistake-tolerant democracy,which can solve the century problem at utmost.

“Deliberative Democracy”的创新解析

"deliberative democracy"作为当代中西方共同关注的重要政治理论,恰当的中文译法对于该理论在中国的传播及发挥的启发作用影响极大。本文通过对目前汉语界对"deliberative democracy"的几种译法的分析,结合该理论的内涵意义,提出在中国政治语境下的恰当中文译法。

The Root Cause of the Failure of American COVID-19 Governance Based on the Criticism of Liberal Democracy From Error-Tolerant Democracy

Liberal democracy cannot help America govern COVID-19 effectively for liberalism’s misunderstanding of the concept of liberty.Error-tolerantism divides liberty into the right to liberty in innovative fields,the right to be wrong as an original right,and the right to be right in non-innovative ones as sub-rights;rights come from mutual empowerment among people.The major defects of liberal democracy from the perspective of error-tolerant democracy constructed on error-tolerantism are as follows:The essence of election is to transfer people’s right to be wrong and corresponding right to be right to politicians,but the separation and balance of powers does not evaluate whether presidents,states,mayors,et al.,have exercised the power to be wrong reasonably,so that they could even abuse it in the COVID-19 governance,and did great harm to people’s human rights without any accountability or impeachment.Democratic governor’power to be wrong authorized by election was deprived by President Trump through issuing false information in the COVID-19 governance and encouraging people to protest against the anti-pandemic laws,which made liberal democracy in the United States threatened and COVID-19 out of control.

A Prerequisite for the Successful Governance of COVID-19 in the United States:Expansion of Liberal Democracy From Politics to Economy

The failure of COVID-19 governance in the United States of America is closely related to its economic inequality.According to the theory of error-tolerant democracy,after reflecting on the American financial crisis of 2008,liberty should be redefined from mutual empowerment under the background of regulation,which means that rights to liberty of entrepreneurs and financial capitalists in the public economy are empowered by the people,so they should empower and benefit the people,corresponding to regulation and redistribution respectively.During the COVID-19 pandemic,empowering and benefiting the people regarded as economic democracy has not been realized for neoliberal policies,leading to insufficient public funds to help citizens badly hurt by the disease.To restore the U.S.as the beacon of democracy,it should undertake the historical mission:expansion of liberal democracy from politics to economy so as to reduce unreasonable economic inequality and protect rights to life of more infected Americans.

Chinese Enrichment and Development of Marxist Concept of Democracy in the New Era

Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China,Chinese communists,re-presented by President Xi Jinping,have innovated Marxist Concept of Democracy base on Chinese history,culture and conditions. On the basis of inheriting Marxist thought of the inner prescriptions of "people's democracy",they fur-ther expanded the connotation and extension of "rule by the people",developed the contents of the electoral democ-racy and consultative democracy in China.,enriched the concrete requirements of the democratic realization condi-tions from the aspects of economic foundation,intellectual support and the guarantee of the rule of law,and a new ex-ploration is made on the development of China's democratic political system from the aspects of Party's leadership and operation supervision.

Democracy

Democracy, a popular word with a variety of definitions, appears to be one of the core ideas in nowadays discussion of politics. Evolved from ancient Athens, it literally means 'rule by people'.

Democracy Development in Mongolia:Challenges and Opportunities

The modern democracy in Mongolia has changed from ideology and desires into the daily actions and real-life needs of achievement of the people.The content of this article aimed to categorizing the democracy development process and its challenges and opportunities in promoting democratic governance in Mongolia such brought specific approaches of the changes and difficulties.The contented of research article contextual approaches are characterized by own individual research data on democracy as basis on the use of the work and the independent research findings of the researcher.On the overview of process of uncut democracy consolidation and the democracy development in Mongolia managed to the most consistent principles and fundamental values of democracy up to second half of the 1990s.From the second half of the 1990s till the election in 2004,within this term,the following challenges and difficulties risen to action of slowing down that forming of political parties,grouped into fractional,blockage of post-trafficking,conspiracy,and to be corrupted and bribery as mentioned as newly adverse phenomena have begun to the democracy development.

On the Crisis of Democracy

In the last three decades of the 20th century, important political changes occurred in all regions of the world, making the institutions of many existing political systems closer to the ideals of democracy. But as happened in other moments of history, those processes of democratization, even when successful, always occurred through advances and retreats. Thus, contemporary political practices, procedures, and institutions embody democratic ideals only partially. In many nations, in the present, the rule of law, civil, and political rights, and institutional mechanisms for citizens’ control of governments remain ineffective or underdeveloped. Thus, a double concern prevails among analysts: on the one hand, the regression to authoritarianism in some countries after the processes of political changes—Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Turkey being the paradigmatic examples;the emergence of semi-democracies, i.e., hybrid or illiberal regimes, which have provoked a new interest in the study of patterns of institutional design, the critical role of civil society, different political-cultural developments, authoritarian legacies in the context of the new democracies, competitive authoritarianism and new dictatorships. On the other hand, the acknowledgement of intrinsic limits of the historical development of the democratic regime even in the case of old democracies, i.e., the fact that political equality, active citizen participation, and effective control of abuse of power have never been fully realized in practice. This is the general context in which many analysts and part of the public opinion sustain that there is a crisis of democracy. The general diagnosis refers to the decreasing trust in political elites, political parties, parliaments, governments, and to the dissatisfaction with the regime among democrats;it refers also to the weaker and sometimes erratic performance of democratic institutions and particularly to the failure of the representative system. The picture is completed with the growing rates of partisan misalignment, electoral volatility, and declining civic participation. All this seems to indicate that democracy is inconceivable without crisis. This chapter discusses this scenario. The crisis of democracies is examined from a critical perspective, and the main objective is to understand the different dimensions of its nature and its consequences.

Updating Western Democracies for the 21st Century:A Move for Replacing a Zero-Sum System by a Win-Win One

The surrounding world is changing.Uncertainty is the only certain thing projected.The Western Civilization is moving from the 20th century orderly and stable Modernity to the chaotic and unstable reality of the 21st century.Technology is galloping fast and high,society moves from poverty to prosperity,from scarcity to affluent and democracy celebrates it becoming the dominant form of government.However,while everything around is shaking,democracy,in principle,remained stable and unchanged,similar to its theoretical model.Many youngsters dislike such an old-fashioned system.It is pronounced by decreasing participation in general election,by increasing the importance and effects of the social networks and by the growing number of varieties of minority groups.The author suggests several amendments and for updating democracy and make it suitable for the Digital Era’s requirements.Among the proposed adjustments are:Introducing and legitimizing Referendums,expanding E-government activities and creating a government based on a Grand-Coalition,composed of the two largest parties,instead of the coalition-opposition traditional set up.For by-passing bureaucracy,a permanent channel of exceptional committees should be established.Bureaucracy must be revitalized to be more human-oriented and customer-friendly.The article ends with proposing a practical course for implementation.

Why Democracy is Its Own Worst Enemy？

The challenges that lay ahead for democracy are so serious that few political scientists have the courage to risk theirreputation and pin down with relative accuracy what will happen on a 5/10/15 year basis. As a matter of fact, whenthe term ＂democracy＂ and ＂enemy＂ is used in the same sentence there＇s a natural and immediate tendency---forthose who are lucky enough to live in electoral democracies---to look over the fence and not to our own backyard.That is to say, democracy＇s enemies, our enemies, are some sort of mythological creatures that live far away fi＇omour perfect democratic bubble. This reasoning can be in part seen in the on-going debate about democracy＇sstruggle against its external enemies. During the Cold War period democracy was at ＂war＂ with communism and,before that, with national-socialism and fascism. Currently, democracy faces new enemies： global authoritarianism,international terrorism, religious extremism, and Islamic fundamentalism. This thoughtfulness is only partly true.At least it＇s not the only reason why we are debating this matter today. According to this paper, and that＇s preciselypart of the problem, democracy is to some extent its own worst enemy. Why？ Because most of the issues that we＇redebating today are the result of a certain apathy and disentanglement of liberal democracies around the world in thelast decade.

Ecological Democracy and Sustainability in Fragile Environment： Environmental Discourse in Select Pieces of Environmental Writing from India

Environmental writing has attained a new relevance in the 21st century. In the present scenario, environmental writing becomes a social discourse. This is the result of a new, vibrant and growing environmental constituency in societies such as Brazil, India, Thailand and other Third World Countries. The features of environmental writing include a visible concern for social justice, defence of livelihood and the determining part played by women. This new discourse has emerged with a new focus on redefinition of terms like human rights, common good, democracy and CPRs （common property resources）. Environmental Writing becomes a powerful discourse when it protests against the increasingly intrusive and interventionist developmental projects, implemented by the government, which in turn assert dominion over indigenous people of the land. There is also a strong emphasis on prudence among the poor as contrasted to the ecological profligacy of the rich. This paper is an attempt to examine the voices of dissent and the accountability of postmodern writers and environmental activists in India regarding environmental issues in India.

The Emergence of Illiberal Democracy in the European Union:The Hungarian Case

In 2010,the Hungarian government established so-called“illiberal democracy.”Western courtiers have looked on with bewilderment over the past eight years at this political trajectory of Hungary.Some post-Communist countries that were committed to common European values,have already been implementing this illiberal democracy model.The perceived interests of the“nation”are taking centre stage and governments are subject to far fewer checks and balances.They are turning instead towards an alternative social,political,and economic model,in which the cultivation of traditional values and distinct national identities are of paramount ideological importance.This new model is frequently characterised by widespread,systematic state corruption,and an increasingly authoritarian political culture.The paper tries to shed light on the reasons of development of illiberal democracy in the European Union by examining the case in Hungary.Furthermore,the paper defines the price of partially giving up certain principles of liberal democracy,such as checks and balances,political pluralism,economic equality of market constituents,or the rule of law,in return of hoped greater economic and state efficiency.

Education and Recognition：Is Democracy What We Are Really Looking for？

Democracy provides a quite peculiar kind of recognition, based on the following theory： Since contents tend do make human beings struggle and since strong decisions tend to make this struggle even harder, forms have to be more important than contents and decisions have to soft. Thus, I believe, we tend to mix up complexity and uncertainty. It is therefore possible to criticize this theory by assuming that it is needed to find a way to embrace true complexity, namely complexity related to the relational nature of human beings. In order to achieve such objective, I will briefly trace the research back to G. W. F. Hegel＇s method, to W. yon Humboldt＇s educational thought and to R. Tuomela＇s insights on intersubjectivity.

Democratic Values of Mongolians Becoming as a Pillar of Perspectives of Democracy, Human Rights, Freedom, and Legitimacy

The modern democracy in Mongolia has changed from ideology and desires into the daily actions and real-life needs of achievement of the people. The content of this article aimed to categorize the democracy development process and its challenges and opportunities in promoting democratic governance in Mongolia;such brought specific approaches of the changes and difficulties. The content of research article contextual approaches are characterized by own individual research data on democracy as basis on the use of the work and the independent research findings of the researcher. On the overview of process of uncut democracy consolidation, the democracy development in Mongolia managed to the most consistent principles and fundamental values of democracy up to second half of the 1990s. From the second half of the 1990s till the election in 2004, within this term, the following challenges and difficulties risen to action of slowing down that forming of political parties, grouped into fractional, blockage of post-trafficking, conspiracy, and to be corrupted and bribery as mentioned as newly adverse phenomena have begun to the democracy development.

Cosmopolitan Democracy and Democratic Public Law

Cosmopolitan democracy model is presented by David Held, beyond idealistic perspectives of left and right ideologies, mainly with a legal view, and found a global impact. As a prominent theorist in the field of democracy studies, David Held, by integrating the principle of autonomy in the model of constitutional democracy with the principle of participation in the model of participatory democracy, introduces a novel composition named ＂cosmopolitan democracy＂ that is a conception of democratic legal relations. Held is the first man who seeks to investigate democracy separated from the ideological models in relation to general human rights and identifies main areas of power in human life. He considers totally seven sets of rights necessarily enabling people to enjoy a free and equal participation in setting their communities. These rights include： right to health, welfare rights, cultural rights, civil rights, economic rights, political rights, and the right to enjoy a peaceful livelihood. Held＇s ultimate desire is to realize ideals of cosmopolitan democracy model in the global sphere, beyond the lessons of the West and the East. Through rethinking the theoretical and practical frameworks of this theory in today＇s world, the current paper seeks to study its role in reproducing democratic realism so that it would prepare the ground for the global consensus far from the ideal models.

Contests for State Power： An Examination of the Consequences of Variations in Electoral Systems in Contemporary Africa

The choice of electoral system determines how the entire electoral process will be run. It can affect not only the size of electoral districts and the ballot structures but also who can vote and how their votes can be counted （Reynolds, 2009; Reynolds, Reilly, ＆ Ellis, 2008）. Conflicts are more likely to arise if an electoral system is perceived as a system of ＂pick and choose＂. Some electoral systems may be less prone to post-election conflicts than others; and to some extent such electoral systems may also be more helpful in promoting democracy than others. In addition, studies have shown that many African countries that hold elections inherited their political systems from their former European colonial powers （Reynolds, 2009; Blanton, Mason, ＆ Athow, 2001; Young, 1986）. Such systems are less likely to work on African terrains. Therefore, designing an electoral system that can help minimize frequent occurrences of political conflict requires not only an in-depth knowledge of party systems in Africa but also a deep understanding of electoral rules of the game. This paper covers two interrelated topics： African models of electoral systems with a particular emphasis on electoral rules and democracy promotion, and elections and party systems.

South Africa＇s Media Freedom Landscape and the Closures in Democracy

This research uses a theoretical conceptual method based on Chantal Mouffe＇s Radical Democracy which blended with Derrida＇s deconstruction thesis about ＂democracy to come＂ to reach findings on the state of South Africa＇s media freedom landscape. The method is contained in the conceptual framework. The article provides the constitutional legal landscape--or the overarching laws of the land--and the co-regulatory framework within which journalists work. There are four research explications： the Protection of State Information Bill （dubbed the Secrecy Bill）, a painting of the president and Freedom of Expression, an arson attack on a community radio station and finally, the death of a photojournalist at the hands of police. The argument here is that the death, the arson attack, the Secrecy Bill, and the shut-down of dissent during the exhibition of the painting of the president all undermine democracy and signify significant closures for the media in the now 20-year-old post-apartheid South Africa. The analysis and reflections will be framed within theories of radical democracy, which argue for more fights and contestations and more voices from the margins in order to deepen democracy, rather than rational consensus which closes the spaces for greater plurality.