Search Results (64)

This paper investigates how democracy influences economic growth through innovation and institutional quality. Using an augmented Solow growth model and panel-data mediation analysis across 123 countries (2011–2022), we quantify democracy’s impact on GDP per capita. Our results show that institutional quality accounts for 83.3% of democracy’s total effect on economic output, while innovation explains only 16.7%. This study contributes to the literature by distinguishing between institutional and innovation channels in the democracy–growth nexus and provides policy-relevant insights for promoting inclusive economic growth (SDG 8) and building resilient infrastructure and innovation (SDG 9). Full article

The historical peak in CO₂ emissions has intensified global environmental concerns, urging the identification of key determinants. While economic drivers are well-documented, political dimensions—especially democracy and institutional quality—are increasingly emphasized. However, the role of freedom of association and organization (AOF), a core democratic element, remains largely unexamined in this context. This study fills this gap by analyzing the impact of AOF on CO₂ emissions in the top 20 emitter countries from 2006 to 2022. The selection of these countries enables a focused assessment of the world’s primary polluters, ensuring high policy relevance. Using second-generation panel estimators, the Augmented Mean Group and the Common Correlated Effects Mean Group estimators, the analysis accounts for heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. Robustness is tested using the CS-ARDL method, confirming the stability of results. Empirical findings show that higher levels of AOF significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. Income and energy consumption increase emissions, while the effect of trade openness is statistically insignificant. These results suggest that strengthening associational freedoms can offer a dual benefit: advancing democratic norms and achieving environmental goals. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated virtual collaboration, reshaping digital communication, remote work, education, and e-democracy. This study examines the impact of these tools on digital citizen participation through a quantitative cross-sectional survey of n = 1122 participants across diverse demographics. Using stratified purposive sampling, descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and segmentation by demographic and psychological factors, we analyzed how infrastructure quality, personality traits, and social dynamics influenced virtual engagement. While digital platforms have improved accessibility, findings reveal that they often fail to foster interpersonal trust and democratic deliberation. Statistical analyses demonstrated significant correlations between communication effectiveness and relationship quality (ρ = 0.387, p < 0.001), with distinct patterns emerging across age groups, community sizes, and personality types. Infrastructure disparities significantly impacted participation, particularly in rural areas (χ² = 70.72, df = 12, p < 0.001, V = 0.145). Recommendations include enhancing digital infrastructure, developing adaptive e-governance platforms, and implementing trust-building mechanisms. Despite the limitations of self-reported data and the cross-sectional design, these insights contribute to building more inclusive digital governance frameworks. Future research should employ longitudinal approaches to explore evolving trends in e-democratic participation. Full article

The time is nigh to organize the physical landscapes of the United States under a unified land use policy and planning framework. As human populations have steadily grown, so has the urgency for agencies to plan for land uses at broader scales to overcome continued jurisdictional fragmentation and achieve sustainable and environmentally just landscapes. This paper introduces a vision, conceptual approach, and implementation strategy that applies ecoregions and proposes a unified framework for land use planning and regulation in the United States. The Sustainable Ecoregion Program (SEP) is designed to enable local landowners; public stakeholders; other land users; and state, regional, tribal, and national natural resource professionals to set and achieve future desired conditions for sustainable land uses across landscapes. The objective is to outline a comprehensive and sustainably just solution to the recurring problem of managing conflicting land uses in the face of continued degradation and multiple land tenure systems. The SEP will determine how much of the physical landscape will go to developed, agricultural, and natural landcover types. The framework includes recognition of level III ecoregions as primary boundaries, proposed secondary boundaries and shapes to enhance connectivity and movement across landscapes, a proposed structure for the environmental governance and co-management of landscapes, and definitions of physical landscape types. The benefits and challenges of the SEP are discussed. The outcomes of the SEP include ecological integrity, sustainable land use management, deliberative democracy, just sustainability, and improved quality of life for residents of the United States. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between citizens’ perceptions of government socio-economic performance and support for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), examining the moderating effect of urbanization rates. A quantitative approach was employed, using Afrobarometer survey data from 32 SSA countries; the research applies a moderation analysis to test these relationships. According to our findings, there is a negative association between perceived socio-economic performance and democratic support in SSA, which is contrary to modernization theory. Furthermore, urbanization rates significantly moderate this relationship, with the negative impact intensifying at higher urbanization levels. These findings suggest growing disillusionment with democracy’s ability to deliver socio-economic benefits in SSA, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas where expectations may be higher. The study highlights the need to reconsider democratization dynamics in developing regions and underscores the importance of context-specific factors in shaping democratic attitudes. The findings suggest a need for governments and international organizations to focus on improving governance quality and service delivery, especially in urban areas, to maintain democratic support. Full article

This paper explores and compares two participatory management approaches—the Company Democracy Model and Holacracy—for their application within the Indian Ministry of Education. It emphasizes the need for innovative organizational techniques in the management of the public sector, particularly in light of the dynamic demands posed by the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The study evaluates how these approaches enhance employee engagement and improve the quality of deliverables. Lewin’s Field Force Analysis is utilized to examine the organization’s strategy. The study employs Kotter’s Change Model to assess the applicability of Holacracy—a decentralized, project-oriented system, characterized by its dynamic and self-organizing structures. This model is analyzed for its potential to meet the Ministry’s shifting priorities and to foster adaptability through autonomous teams. Conversely, the Company Democracy Model, which emphasizes employee-centric growth and decision-making within a tiered, spiral framework, is evaluated using the ADKAR Change Model. This model’s compatibility with the Ministry’s hierarchical structure and its potential to enhance participatory governance are key areas of focus. The study contributes novel insights by integrating change management theories with a refined presentation of the CDM pyramid and by introducing specific performance metrics for both models. By combining theoretical frameworks with practical applications, this paper offers a sustainable governance model suited to dynamic organizational environments. Full article

Parliaments play a key role in the concept of knowledge democracy. They contribute to the production and dissemination of knowledge, promote critical thinking and opinion formation, and strengthen democracy through high-quality laws. Scientific investigation has always focused on the work of committees and plenary session debates, but less attention has been paid to the communication measures that contribute to informing the populace. However, these are necessary to ensure the objective reporting of the topics under debate. This article is the first to address a completely new topic of public information by parliaments: exhibitions in a political context. The new visitor center in the Austrian parliament, the Demokratikum—Experience Parliament, is used to illustrate the innovative communication measures that are being taken to educate citizens about the functions of parliamentarianism. The focus is on the production and communication of knowledge using digital and interactive exhibition stations that explain complex political topics in a user-friendly way. In addition to presenting single examples, this article aims to promote innovative communication concepts to show people all the possibilities for participation in political systems and thus strengthen the quality of democracy in the long term. Full article

The concept of energy burden (EB) continues to gain prominence in energy and associated policy research as energy prices rise and electricity and heating options diversify. This research offers a deeper understanding of EB dynamics and how EB can be addressed more effectively by discerning the interplay between regional environmental, social, and economic factors. Using decision trees (DTs), a powerful machine learning technique, we explore the multifaceted dynamics that shape EB across the United States (U.S.) by examining how factors like housing quality, demographic variations, access to energy sources, and regional economic conditions interact, creating distinct EB profiles across communities. Following a comprehensive review of existing literature and DT analysis, we map the results to identify the most significant factors influencing EB. We find that no single variable has a determinant effect on EB levels. While there is no uniform regional pattern, regions with higher population density exhibit a stronger correlation between EB and socioeconomic and other demographic factors such as educational attainment levels and racial segregation. Our findings underscore the significance of regional ecologies in shaping EB, revealing how localized environmental and economic contexts amplify or mitigate systemic inequities. Specifically, our analysis reveals significant regional disparities, highlighting the need for localized policies and interventions. We find that a one-size-fits-all approach is insufficient and that targeted, place-based strategies are necessary to address the specific needs of different communities. Policy interventions should prioritize energy democracy, address systemic inequities, and ensure universal energy access through participatory planning, financial assistance, and targeted initiatives such as housing rehabilitation, energy efficiency improvements, and incentives for underrepresented communities. Full article

Over the last decade, AI has increasingly been adopted by newsrooms in the form of different tools aiming to support journalists and augment the capabilities of the profession. The main idea behind the adoption of AI is that it can make journalists’ work more efficient, freeing them up from some repetitive or routine tasks while enhancing their research and storytelling techniques. Against this idea, and drawing on the concept of “hype”, we employ a critical reflection on the lens often used to talk about journalism and AI. We suggest that the severe sustainability crisis of journalism, rooted in growing pressure from platforms and major corporate competitors, changing news consumption habits and rituals and the growing technologization of news media, leads to the obsessive pursuit of technology in the absence of clear and research-informed strategies which cater to journalism’s civic role. As AI is changing and (re)shaping norms and practices associated with news making, many questions and debates are raised pertaining to the quality and plurality of outputs created by AI. Given the disproportionate attention paid to technological innovation with little interpretation, the present article explores how AI is impacting journalism. Additionally, using the political economy framework, we analyze the fundamental issues and challenges journalism is faced with in terms of both practices and professional sustainability. In the process, we untangle the AI hype and attempt to shed light on how AI can help journalism regain its civic role. We argue that despite the advantages AI provides to journalism, we should avoid the “shiny things perspective”, which tends to emphasize productivity and profitability, and rather focus on the constructive synergy of humans and machines to achieve the six or seven things journalism can do for democracy. Otherwise, we are heading toward “alien intelligence” which is agnostic to the core normative values of journalism. Full article

This literature review critically examines the potential of collective intelligence (CI) to enhance theories of deliberative democracy and participatory governance through academic discourse. We employed PRISMA guidelines for systematic article selection, complemented by a narrative approach for in-depth thematic analysis and supplemented by quantitative methodologies such as Sankey diagrams and keyness analysis. Reviewing 61 scholarly articles focusing on CI within the public sector, this study identifies theoretical insights that could significantly impact the field of democratic innovations and participatory governance. Our analysis reveals that CI methodologies can make governance more inclusive and dynamic by integrating advanced digital tools that foster broader and more effective citizen participation. We conclude that integrating CI with deliberative democracy and participatory governance theories holds substantial promise for developing more responsive and adaptive governance models. Future research should focus on measuring deliberative quality in real time, deploying CI tools to empower underrepresented groups and address specific governance challenges, and examining CI’s ethical and social implications, especially concerning privacy, security, and power dynamics in technology-driven public decision-making. Full article

Due to the continuous growth of global energy demand and the urgent pursuit of sustainable development goals, renewable energy development has become a vital strategy to deal with energy challenges and environmental issues. Renewable energy generation efficiency (REGE) around the world has begun to be examined, and ambitious goals with a sense of mission within a predetermined timeline have been set. The goal of this paper is to use the dynamic slacks-based measure (DSBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to obtain the REGE for 44 Asian economies from 2010 to 2021. This paper also uses Tobit regression analysis to explore the factors that may affect the REGE. The empirical results indicate that the REGE in 17 economies reached the efficiency target during this period. When classified by income level, differences in average REGE are observed among high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income economies. Additionally, differences in average REGE exist between tropical and temperate economies when classified by geographic latitude. Furthermore, through the Tobit regression model, we determine that information digitalization, financial openness, technological innovation ability, and renewable energy device capacity share all have significant positive effects on REGE, but life quality and democracy degree have significant negative impacts on REGE. Moreover, it has been found that the REGE scores of Asian economies exhibit a status similar to the middle-income trap. The outcome of the research provides Asian governments and those middle-income economies with ways to enhance REGE. Due to data limitations, this study cannot estimate the convergent solution based on the data of the research sample, and a new advanced Panel Tobit model is required. Full article

Recent reports have indicated a slowdown in global progress towards compliance with the 2030 Agenda and a setback in some objectives. This has prompted the development of research to identify the factors contributing to some countries moving faster than others in achieving the goals. Until now, the literature has emphasized the role of economic and institutional factors in achieving the 2030 Agenda, making it necessary to investigate the effects that other political or social factors may generate. To contribute to this purpose, this article aims to identify the effect of the quality of government, democracy, and well-being on aggregate compliance with the 2030 Agenda. Through a quantitative analysis that uses the level of achievement of the 2030 Agenda as a dependent variable and six independent variables related to the quality of government, democracy status, and well-being, we found that the effectiveness of government, the welfare regime, subjective well-being, and democracy status positively influence the achievement of sustainable development objectives. These findings have practical implications, as they suggest that countries with solid and effective government institutions, social safety networks, high subjective well-being, and healthy democracy have greater potential for meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda, emphasizing the urgency of our collective efforts. Full article

The Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) project is the first project that explores news deserts in Europe comprehensively. Its final report highlighted challenges and opportunities for local and community media and identified the level of risk of news deserts in the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. As a pilot project, however, its results are still preliminary and open to evaluation, and, thus, they require further discussion and corroboration. Drawing from these results, and applying a multidisciplinary approach, we extrapolated research directions for the study of news deserts in the EU. By cross-analyzing data from the LM4D dataset with other datasets, we provide a preliminary analysis of three promising lines of research: (1) the relationship between public service media quality and news deserts, (2) news deserts and the spread of disinformation, and (3) social media usage and news desertification. We conclude by pointing out the limitations of this preliminary analysis and opportunities for further research on news deserts in the EU. Full article

This paper explores the complex relationship between energy poverty and the maintenance of democratic values within the European Union (EU), suggesting that energy poverty not only impacts economic stability and health outcomes but also poses significant challenges to democratic engagement and equity. To measure energy poverty, a composite index is developed using the entropy method, which surpasses traditional measures focused solely on access to energy or its developmental implications. To assess the level of democratic governance in EU countries, the voice and accountability index (VEA), which is part of the World Governance Indicators compiled by the World Bank, is utilized. By analyzing EU data from 2006 to 2022, the findings suggest that a 1% improvement in VEA quality, represented by a coefficient of 0.122, is correlated with a notable improvement in the energy poverty index. This suggests that the EU should focus on enhancing transparency and public participation in energy decision-making, along with ensuring accountability in policy implementation. The research also differentiates between full and flawed democracies, noting that tailored approaches are needed. In full democracies, leveraging economic prosperity and trade is crucial due to their significant positive impacts on the energy poverty index. In contrast, in flawed democracies, enhancing governance and accountability is more impactful, as evidenced by a higher coefficient of 0.193. Strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, improving regulatory quality, and ensuring public engagement in governance could substantially mitigate energy poverty in these contexts. In addition, this paper demonstrates that this relationship is influenced by factors such as income inequality, energy intensity, and trade openness. Full article

In 2020, the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) marked its silver anniversary by releasing its sixth report on the representation of women in the global media landscape, and in 2021, the NGO Plan International unveiled the tenth edition of its report “State of the World’s Girls: The Truth Gap”. The study focused on how misinformation impacts equal opportunities for girls, adolescents, and young women worldwide, and proposed strategies to combat the “truth gap”. These examples showcase the collective efforts made in recent decades by professionals, academia, institutions, NGOs, and activists to enhance the state of information globally. The aspiration is ambitious, aiming to make information more transparent, accessible, and inclusive, fostering equality, truth-seeking, and the visibility of women, young people, and rural populations. However, the findings from the GMMP reports, as well as the analysis conducted by Plan International and numerous other works, underscore that despite evident social changes worldwide—particularly in the educational, labor, and social realms for women—access to truthful and high-quality information remains elusive. Simultaneously, studies reveal a declining public trust, especially among young people, in traditional media, a shift to alternative information sources, and a deterioration in the quality benchmarks of the journalism profession. Journalism, a pursuit of truth from sources to the public, has historically been and should remain a pillar upholding democracy and freedom. This article employs a qualitative case study methodology to analyze the best practices proposed across various domains to safeguard information quality. Special attention is given to initiatives that aim to involve women and young people in the collective effort against misinformation. Full article