:

DE sign:
(Deconstructing in-order to find new meanings)

A blogging space about my personal interests; was made during training in Stockholm #Young Leaders Visitors Program #Ylvp08 it developed into a social bookmarking blog.

I studied #Architecture; interested in #Design #Art #Education #Urban Design #Digital-media #social-media #Inhabited-Environments #Contemporary-Cultures #experimentation #networking #sustainability & more =)


Please Enjoy, feedback recommended.

p.s. sharing is usually out of interest not Blind praise.
This is neither sacred nor political.

Saturday, October 31

Urban October Damas


Image Damas 2015

"...........Damascus' Roman map remains imprinted on the city's plan. With the introduction of Christianity in the Byzantine era, Damascus became an important center where the Christians and the Bishop of Damascus were perceived as second in rank of religious importance only to the Patriarch of Antioch. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395 AD, Syria joined the eastern province of the Byzantine Empire. It maintained a strategic link between Anatolia and Egypt, the two most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire.


Architecturally, additions to the city did not occur on a grand urban scale, but rather through the insertion of religious structures into existing sites. The Temple of Jupiter was transformed into the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The Church of the Musallaba was situated inside the city walls between Bab al-Sharqi and Bab Touma on the site of the house of Ananias. Other Christian additions include the Church of al-Maqsallat near the middle of the Street Called Straight, the Church of Saint Mary along the same main access, and the Church of Saint Paul near the current Suq al-Khayatin.



In 635 AD Damascus began its transformation into a Muslim city, the first political center of the Muslim people. That year, the city was taken over by Islamic armies who had traveled north from the Arabian Peninsula. A strong majority under Roman control welcomed the Muslim armies and the city saw mass-conversions to Islam, which strengthened the Muslim military power. As Damascus shifted from its western focus to an eastern one, it faced severe opposition from the Romans.



At the center of the rapidly expanding Islamic Empire-even if only for a brief 100 years-this position was crucial to Damascus' development. Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan made Damascus the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.  Although the dynasty lasted for less than a hundred years, it had a great impact on the cultural and artistic heritage of the city. Adding yet another layer to Damascus's multi-textured urban and architectural fabric, the lasting Islamic symbol, the Umayyad Mosque was built above the remains of the Roman temple of Jupiter. The site had already seen the Aramaic temple and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.



The mosque embodies the architectural influences of former empires (Aramaic, Roman, Byzantine) while suggesting a model for a mosque typology that would develop in the following centuries. As a physical monument acknowledging the strength and power of the growing Islamic Empire, the mosque served not only as an important religious center but also as a political, social and scientific gathering point for leaders, scholars and visitors from all the surrounding regions.



The capital of the Islamic Empire was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad in 750 under the newly formed Abbasid dynasty.  This shift left Damascus as a provincial town with a declining population. Political rivalries between the Abbasids and Umayyads left physical scars and damage as a result of assaults, raids and attacks. Defense towers, palaces and public buildings (including the Umayyad mosque) suffered the most. Later in the Abbasid period Damascus assumed a new role as a place of leisure, leading to the building of palaces in the area. An Abbasid approaches to rule affected the city's fragmentation. Quarters became isolated and self-contained, each one developing independent markets, mosques and institutions for security reasons. The historian Ibn Asakir counted more than 242 mosques within the city walls in the 12th century, which is a direct effect of this fragmentation



The Seljuk and Ayyubid periods beginning in the late eleventh century triggered Damascus to regain stability. During the reign of Nur al-Din (1154-1174), large-scale restoration projects throughout the city were initiated. The city walls were repaired and fortified with new defense towers. City gates were rebuilt and new ones were added such as Bab al-Salaam and Bab al-Faraj. Nur al-Din also founded many institutions across the city that were important in stitching the community back together through central public buildings like the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din, the Madrasa of Nur al-Din, and Dar al-Adl (Hall of Justice). Major urban shifts in the Ayyubid period, with large expansions outside the city walls and the development of al-Salihiyya on the slope of Mount Qasyun and Hikr al-Summaq to the west of the city, can be mapped by tracing the Ayyubid madrasas and mosques in each area. Some of these Ayyubid monuments include al-Madrasa al-Murshidiyya, al-Rukniyya and al-Badra'iyya.



Timurid armies invaded Damascus in 1400 slaughtering hundreds of Damascenes and destroying many of the city's buildings.  After the Timurids departure from the ruins of Damascus, the Mamluks took control of the city. The Mamluk period was one of reconstruction. Ayyubid monuments were restored and Mamluk additions were constructed. Dar al-Adl was restored and readapted as Dar al-Saada, the governor's residence. Mamluk buildings in Damascus include the Mausoleum of Baybars, the Tankiz mosque, Hisham mosque and the Madrasa al-Jaqmaqiyya. The Mamluk period also witnessed the expansion of the pre-existing, Ayyubid extensions so that the areas were linked together forming a greater Damascus outside the old city's walls.



In 1516 Damascus was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire that would rule the city for four centuries.  Political stability and the city's increased importance created an atmosphere of architectural resurgence. Most of the prominent Ottoman additions are complexes built outside the old city walls. The first was in al-Salihiyya around the tomb of Sheikh Muhi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi that included a mausoleum and a takkiya. Another Ottoman complex is the Darwishiyya built in 1574 that included a mosque, a madrasa, a mausoleum and a water fountain. In addition to the religious additions of mosques and madrasas, the Ottoman era established commercial building types in the forms of the suq and khan. These suqs and khans served the flow of travelers passing through the Ottoman regions especially during pilgrimage season. Some commercial Ottoman buildings include Khan al-Jawkhiyya, Suq al-Harir (Khan al-Harir and Hammam al-Qishani) and Suq Midhat Basha.



The 18th century saw projects by the Azm family who governed Damascus for nearly a century take on great significance. The Azm family was responsible for projects that encompassed commercial buildings (Khan Asaad Basha and Suq al-Jadid the western wing of Suq al-Hamidiyya), governmental buildings (Hall of Justice) and residential architecture (Azm Palace).



Damascus' urban fabric in the 19th century began to evolve as the suburbs connected to absorb the growing population and the old city walls and defense systems ceased to have any military importance. The 19th century also witnessed a change in architectural style as European influences appeared in the buildings of 'modern' Damascus. For example the Hamidiyya barracks (currently part of the Damascus University campus), the old Republican Palace in al-Muhajirin, the National Hospital and Dar al-Mu'alimin (the House of Educators). Other late Ottoman interventions included building channels to supply the city with fresh spring water and linking Damascus to its neighboring regions (Beirut and al-Hijaz) by railroad transportation. New streets were built throughout the city to connect different suburbs and accommodate new tramlines that linked the quarters.



Modernizing interventions continued under the French Mandate that began in 1920. Urban development, in tandem with the destruction of parts of the city during revolts against the colonialist occupation characterized the first half of the twentieth century. After Syria regained its independence in 1946, Damascus quickly transformed into the country's modern capital city.............................."


Image Damas 2015




CITATION
Danger, Paul, and Michel Écochard. Damas (Syrie): Dossier du plan d'amènagement et d'extension. Esquisse de la Ghouta. Damascus: Service des Travaux Publics, 1936

1936 Development Plan for Damascus
Damascus
Michel Écochard (author)
Cabinet Danger (author)



Urban October Beirut

DSC06740 ::: Cities-in-progress (Beirut)

.....some urban observations of Beirut for Urban_October 2015





...While Brilliant Beirut was curated at Dubai Design Week 

" as a chronological journey, the exhibition was a showcase of the city’s most prominent design and architecture achievements, illustrating all the important milestones of the city’s design history. The visitor's journey (which was staged as a series of long boulevard-like corridors) began in the flourishing 1950s, when the Hotel Carlton (1957) and the Pan-American Building (1953) rose to dominate Beirut’s skyline and the Cinema al-Hamra was constructed on Hamra Street (1958); also the same time when Lebanon’s first group of architects such asGeorge RaisAssem SalamKhalil Khoury and Karol Schayer emerged. Moving forward to the maturing era of the1960s, which came hand-in-hand with an economic boom and the formation of new companies, the first “starchitects” such as the Finnish Alvar Aalto and Polish Karol Schayer arrived in the city."
>>> read more at 

Sunday, October 25

#UN70 #UNBlue

#Cities #Architecture Turning Blue for UnitedNation's 70 anniversary 

"To help celebrate the UN’s 70th anniversary, more than 200 iconic monuments monuments, buildings, statues, bridges, and other landmarks in more than 60 countries around the world will be lit up blue on UN Day, 24 October, as part of an exciting new global campaign which helps unite global citizens and promote the message of peace, development and human rights. - See more at: http://blogs.un.org/blog/2015/10/09/turn-the-world-unblue/#sthash.8Kdk4Xk7.Qg3y4Fc0.dpuf"



Albania: Tirana: Tirana Clock Tower Algeria: Algiers: Algeria National Theater - Mahieddine Bachtarzi Algiers: The Greate Poste Algiers The Wilaya of Algiers HQ (Province) National People’s Assembly Council of the Nations Australia: Adelaide: Three Rivers Fountain Adelaide: Adelaide Festival Centre Ballarat: Ballarat Townhall Bendigo: Bendigo Conservatory Canberra: National Museum of Australia Canberra: Old Parliament House Canberra: Telestra Tower Canberra: National Archives of Australia Canberra: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Canberra: Questacon National Science and Technology Centre Hobart: Tasmanian Government House Hobart: Fountain Roundabout Melbourne: Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne: Royal Exhibition Building – UNESCO Heritage Melbourne: Melbourne Star Observation Wheel Melbourne: Federation Square Melbourne: Government House of Victoria Melbourne: Parliament of Victoria Melbourne: Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne: Victorian Arts Centre Spire Melbourne: Bolte Bridge Melbourne: St. Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne: State Library of Victoria Perth: The Bell Tower Perth: Arthur Head Cliff and the Round House Perth: Victoria Hall Perth: Trafalgar Bridge Perth: Northbridge Piazza Sydney: Sydney Opera House Armenia: Yerevan: Opera House Azerbaijan: Baku: Heydar Aliyev Center Bahrain: Bu Maher Fort Central Library of the University of Bahrain Bangladesh: Dhaka: Labagh Fort Dhaka: Bangla Academy Burdwan House Belarus: Minsk: Belarus National Library Belgium: Brussels: Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) Brussels: Maison de la Radio Brussels : Center for Fine Arts (Palais des Beaux-Arts) Bruges: Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) Balen / Mol: Library Ghent: Belfort Ghent: Ghelamco Stadium Harelbeke: City Hall Hasselt: City Hall Haacht: Angel’s Castle (Engelenburcht) Louvain: Provinciehuis Louvain: Railway Statue Zottegem: Castle of Egmont Bolivia: La Paz: Triplet Bridge – Libertad La Paz: Triplet Bridge - Unión La Paz: Triplet Bridge - Independencia Brazil: Rio: Christ on Corcovado Mountain (Christ the Redeemer) Rio: Estádio do Maracanã (Maracanã Stadium) Rio: The Municipal Theater (Theatro Municipal) Brasilia: The Itamaraty Palace Brasilia: The Cathedral Salvador: Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda Elevator) Salvador: Farol da Barra (Barra Lighthouse) Salvador: Estádio da Fonte Nova (Fonte Nova Arena) São Paulo: Viaduto do Chá São Paulo: Biblioteca Mário de Andrade (Mário de Andrade Library) São Paulo: Ponte das Bandeiras (Flags bridge) São Paulo: Estátua de Borba Gato (Borba Gato statue) São Paulo: Monumento às Bandeiras Cambodia: Phnom Penh: National Assembly Phnom Penh: Peace Palace China Great Wall of China Colombia: Bogota: La Torre Colpatria (Colpatria Tower) Bogota: Cerro de Monserrate (Monserrate Mountain) Bogota: Palacio de Nariño (Presidential House) Denmark: Copenhagen: Little Mermaid Statue Copenhagen: Nikolaj Kunsthal Copenhagen: Tivoli Gardens Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo: Alcazar de Colon El Salvador: San Salvador: Palacio Nacional Egypt: Giza: The Great Pyramids of Giza Finland: Helsinki: Helsinki Cathedral France: Verdun: Centre Mondial Pour La Paix Germany: Bonn: Old City Hall Berlin: TV Tower Greece: Athens: Gate of Andrianos - Temple of Zeus Athens: City Hall Ioannina: City Hall Koukouli, Zagori Epirus: Three springs and public offices Thermaicos Municipality: City Hall Syros: Aghios Nikolaos Church City of Livadia: Tower of the Medieval Castle City of Livadia: The Clock Tower City of Hersonissos: City Hall City of Corfu: Statue of Lord Adams City of Corfu: Statue of Governor Ioannis Kapoditrias City of Corfu: Metland Rotunda City of Corfu: City Hall (San Giacomo) City of Corfu: Ioannis Kapodistrias Palace (Ionian University) City of Argostoli, Kefalonia: The Obelisk City of Nea Smyrni: Estia of Nea Smirni Hungary: Budapest: Corvinus University, ‘C’ Building Iceland: Reykjavik: Prime Minister’s Office Reykjavik: Imagine Peace Tower India: Mumbai: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus) Indonesia: Jakarta: National Monument Borobudur: Borobudur Temple Iran: Tehran: Milad Tower Tehran: Nature Bridge Iraq: Baghdad: Kahramana Square, Statue of Kahramana And Forty Thieves Square Ireland: Dublin: Dublin Castle Italy: Assisi: Basilica di San Frencesco d’Assisi (Basilica of San Francis of Assisi) Brindisi: Municipal Building Brindisi: Roman Column Milan: City Hall (Palazzo Marino) Pisa: City Hall Pisa: Leaning Tower of Pisa Rovereto: Rovereto Campana della Pace (Peace Bell) Trento: Fontana del Nettuno Turin: Mole Antonelliana Japan: Tokyo: TOKYO SKYTREE Toyama: Tower 111 Nagoya: Nagoya TV Tower Hyogo Prefecture: Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution Kyoto: Kodai-ji Temple Kyoto: Nijo-jo Castle Kanazawa: Kanazawa Castle Fukuoka: JR HAKATA CITY Hyogo Prefecture: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge Sapporo: Sapporo TV Tower Sapporo: The Clock Tower Osaka: Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel Yokohama: Yokohama Marine Tower Jordan: Ma'an Governorate: Petra Amman: Le Royale Hotel Kazakhstan: Almaty: Palace of the Republic Almaty: Hotel Kazakhstan Kenya: Nairobi: Kenyatta International Conference Center Korea Seoul: City Hall Seoul: Incheon Bridge Lebanon: Anjar : UNESCO World Heritage Baalbeck : UNESCO World Heritage Beirut: An-Nahar Newspaper Building Beirut: Le Royal Hotels and Resorts, Dbayeh Beirut: National Museum Beirut: Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel Tele Lumiere – Noursat TV Channel Amchit: President Michael Sleiman Sports Complex Byblos: Byblos Fortress UNESCO World Heritage Qadisha Valley : UNESCO World Heritage Keserwan: Jeita Grotto Tyre: UNESCO World Heritage Lithuania: Vilnius: Gediminas Castle Tower Luxembourg: Luxembourg City: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hotel Saint-Maximin and Hotel SaintAugustin) Luxembourg City: The Parliament Luxembourg City: The Prime Minister’s Office (Hotel de Bourgogne) Luxembourg City: The Philharmonie Luxembourg Luxembourg City: The Town Hall of Luxembourg (Hotel de Ville) Malta: Valletta: Presidential Palace Mauritius: Port Louis: Municipial Council Building Port Louis: Government House Mexico: Mexico City: El Angel de la Independencia (Angel of Independence) Mexico City: Monument to Columbus Mexico City: La Diana Cazadora (Diana the Huntress) Guadalajara: Guadalajara University Monaco: Princley Palace of Monaco Netherlands: The Hague: The Peace Palace The Hague: City Hall New Zealand: Auckland: Auckland War Memorial Museum (Tamaki Paenga Hira) Nigeria: Lagos: National Theater Norway: Oslo: City Hall Peru: Lima: Government Palace Lima: Torre Tagle Palace Cuzco: Temple of Qoricancha Philippines: Manila: Chain of Super Malls (and Globe) Portugal: Lisbon: City Hall Russia: Moscow: Novy Arbat (10 buildings) Moscow: Tverskaya Street (28 buildings) Moscow: Prospect Mira (10 buildings) St. Petersburg: The Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg: The Peter and Paul Fortress Saudi Arabia: Jeddah: Kingdom Tower Riyadh: Al Faisaliah Tower Singapore: Changi Airport (Terminal 1) Marina City Park: Gardens by the Bay (Supertrees) National Gallery Singapore Singapore Art Museum Singapore Botanic Gardens (Bandstand) The Esplanade Slovakia: Bratislava: Mayor’s Palace Bratislava: Bratislava Castle Slovenia: Ljubljana: Triple Bridge Postojna: Castle Predjama South Africa: Johannesburg: Nelson Mandela Bridge Spain: Barcelona: Gaudi’s Casa Mila (La Pedrera de Gaudi) Barcelona: Real Club Deportivo Espanol Stadium (Espanyl Stadium) Barcelona: Gaudi’s Casa Batllo Barcelona: Fonts of Montjuic – Montjuic Fontaines Barcelona: Font de Passeig de Gracia - Passeig de Gracia Fontaine Barcelona: City Hall of Barcelona Barcelona: Roca Gallery Barcelona: Palau de la Generalitat (Headquarters of the Government of Catalonia) Barcelona: La Masia (Centre de Formació Oriol Torn Football Club Barcelona) Bilbao: The San Mamés Stadium Athletic Club Granada: La Alhambra Madrid: City Hall (Palacio de Cibeles) Madrid: Roca Gallery Murcia: City of Murcia Segovia: The aqueduct of Segovia Santiago de Compostela: City of Culture Toledo: The City Hall Toledo: The Torreón de la Cava Seville: La Giralda (Cathedral Tower) Sudan: Karima Town: Gebel Barkal Khartoum: National Museum Sweden: Stockholm: Globen Arena Kristianstad: Old Theatre Switzerland: Geneva: Jet d’Eau (Geneva Fountain) Tunisia: Tunis: Big Ben Turkey: Istanbul: Bosphorous Bridge Istanbul: Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge Izmir: Izmir Clock Tower United Arab Emirates: Etihad Towers Qasr Al-Hosn Mubadala (Almamoora) Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi Global Market Building United Kingdom: London: Central Hall Westminster Edinburgh: Edinburgh Castle Cardiff: Wales Millennium Centre United States of America: New York: Empire State Building New York: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum San Francisco: City Hall Washington D.C: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington D.C: New Zealand Embassy Washington D.C: U.S. Institute of Peace Uruguay: Montevideo: Estadio Centanario (Centenary Field) Zimbabwe: Harare: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe UN Global Offices: New York: United Nations Headquarters Beirut: UN House Lima: UN Offices Moscow: UN Offices Vienna: Vienna International Centre (UN City) Budapest : FAO Building Praia : Cabo Verde UN Offices 

http://blogs.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Blog-21-October-2015-NO-PHOTOS2.pdf

http://webtv.un.org/watch/70-years-strong-un.-better-world/3853599114001

https://www.flickr.com/photos/unicphoto/sets/72157657328013193

Sunday, October 4

Athens Democracy Forum 2015

Athens Democracy Forum 2015 http://athensdemocracyforum.com/ ENHANCING SOCIETY THROUGH BETTER GOVERNANCE

As the world lurches from crisis to crisis, democracy is under extreme pressure. From the rise of Islamist extremism and regimes in states that reject liberal democracy, to growing inequality and the rapid expansion of new technologies, democratic foundations are being threatened in a world where profound changes happen almost overnight. In this era of global uncertainty, these issues and more will frame the debate at the third, expanded Athens Democracy Forum (September 13-15). The event, hosted by the International New York Times and the United Nations Democracy Fund, takes place in Athens, Greece - a living showcase of democracy under extreme challenge as the nation once again goes to the polls on September 20.
Greece may be the birthplace of democracy but, in recent years, the nation has had its foundations shaken by a political, economic and social crisis that has threatened, at times, to tear Europe apart. And in other parts of the world, the Arab Spring, the Maidan protests in Ukraine, the political paralysis in the U.S. Congress, are testament to democracy under threat. 
Held to coincide with the UN International Day of Democracy, our annual forum brings together diplomats, scholars, corporate executives, politicians, thought-leaders, and journalists from around the world to discuss at the foot of the Acropolis the state of liberal democracies and the major challenges they face in the world today. 
In addition to the main conference on September 15, a rich program of affiliated events - including an international student debate at the Old Parliament; a Google Hangout featuring political activists under house arrest; and a symphonic visual concert by Rufus Wainwright at the awe-inspiring Odeon of Herodes Atticus - will also take place throughout the city.






Democracy Under Pressure

"Signs of democratic dysfunction are everywhere, from Athens to Ankara, Brussels to Brasília. In the United States, the federal government has shut down 12 times in the last 35 years. According to the political scientists Christopher Hare and Keith T. Poole, the two main American political parties are more polarized now than they have been at any time since the Civil War. Meanwhile, a Gallup tracking poll shows that trust in the presidency and in the Supreme Court stands at historic lows — while faith in Congress has plummeted so far that it is now in the single digits.
Some citizens of democracies have become so unhappy with their institutions that — according to disturbing new studies of public opinion around the world — they may be tempted to dispense with partisan politics altogether. Would it not be better to let the president make decisions without having to worry about Congress — or to entrust key decisions to unelected experts like the Federal Reserve and the Pentagon?

According to a growing share of Americans, the answer is yes. Back in 1995, the well-respected World Values Survey, which studies representative samples of citizens in almost 100 countries, asked Americans for the first time whether they approved of the idea of “having the army rule.” One in 15 agreed. Since then, that number has steadily grown, to one in six.
To be sure, that still leaves five out of six Americans who would rather not have a military coup. And of course, not every American who tells a pollster that he would rather have the army in charge would actually support a coup. But the willingness to countenance alternative forms of government, if only by a small minority, reveals a deep disillusionment with democracy, one that should concern everyone living in an advanced democracy, including those in Europe and Asia.
The generational differences are striking. When the World Values Survey asked Americans how important it was for them to live in a democracy, citizens born before World War II were the most adamant. On a scale of one to ten, 72 percent assigned living in a democracy a ten, the highest possible value. Among many of their children and grandchildren, however, democracy no longer commands the same devotion. A little over half of Americans born in the postwar boom gave maximum importance to living in a democracy. Among those born since the 1980s, less than 30 percent did.
Political scientists are well aware that poll after poll shows citizens to be more dissatisfied than in the past. Yet they resist the most straightforward conclusion: that people may be less supportive of democracy than they once were.
Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, for example, argue that expectations of citizens have grown rapidly in recent decades, leading to disappointment with the performance of individual politicians and particular governments. But while government legitimacy may have taken a hit, regime legitimacy — that is to say, faith in democracy as such — is as strong as ever, they say.
Worryingly, though, questions in the World Values Survey that directly speak to regime legitimacy no longer support that optimistic interpretation. In countries from the United States to Sweden, and from the Netherlands to Japan, citizens over the last three decades have become less likely to endorse the importance of democracy; less likely to express trust in democratic institutions; and less likely to reject nondemocratic alternatives.
This raises a question that would have seemed strange, even preposterous, to us until we started to embark on our current research: Could the political system in seemingly stable democracies like the United States be less imperturbable than meets the eye?
Scholars have long believed that democracies are stable once they have, in the words of Juan J. Linz and Alfred C. Stepan, become “the only game in town.” In such “consolidated” democracies, where an alternative system of government no longer seems like a possibility, an overwhelming majority of the citizens believes that the only legitimate form of government is democratic. Mainstream political actors refrain from subverting the rules of the democratic game for partisan advantage. And political forces that seek to dismantle the main aspects of the democratic system, like an independent judiciary, are weak or nonexistent.
Until recently, all of these statements described countries like the United States. Today, it is far from obvious that they still do.
It is not just that citizens like democracy less than they once did: Respect for the rules of the democratic game is also eroding. While most Americans still have a deep emotional attachment to the Constitution, the informal norms that have kept the system stable in the past are increasingly disregarded in political practice. Parliamentary procedures long reserved for extraordinary circumstances, for example, are used with stunning regularity. It is not uncommon to threaten impeachment, or to use the filibuster to block legislation — not because the bill is especially transformative, but simply because a legislative minority disagrees with it.
The rise of parties that are critical of key aspects of liberal democracy, like freedom of the press or minority rights, is even more disconcerting. Since the early 1990s, votes for populists have soared in most major Western democracies, whether the National Front in France or the People’s Party in Denmark.
It is no foregone conclusion that such parties will one day take over the government, nor that they would dismantle liberal democracy if they did. And most citizens say they still want to live in a democracy. But the democratic consensus is more brittle than it was. Scholars who long ago concluded that postwar Western democracies have “consolidated” must reckon with the possibility that a process of what we call “democratic deconsolidation” may be underway.
In our view, there are three main explanations for this development."
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/opinion/across-the-globe-a-growing-disillusionment-with-democracy.html

http://athensdemocracyforum.com/gallery/athens-democracy-forum-0/2014-videos/1006



















https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi-CMaS2NmYsEgpnfKNETb0DeJtXYx564




Published on Jul 20, 2015
(ITA subtitles.) After months of negotiations Greece reaches a bad agreement with Eurozone partners. What will happen now? Can Greece be a catalyst for a wider European mobilisation? With Costas Douzinas, Margarita Tsomou, Srecko Horvat, Jerome Roos. Hosts Lorenzo Marsili, artistic direction Berardo Carboni.




Uploaded on Nov 20, 2008
Introduction to Ancient Greek History (CLCV 205)

In this lecture, Professor Kagan describes the mechanics of the Delian League and its transformation into the Athenian empire. This transformation caused Athens to rival Sparta as an equal in power and prestige. He also argues that this process took place rather smoothly due to the good relations between Sparta and Athens. Professor Kagan argues that Cimon the Athenian generally played an important part in this development. Finally, Professor Kagan begins to describe the workings of Athenian democracy by comparing it with modern American democracy.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Rise of the Athenian Empire (Cont.)
10:25 - Chapter 2. Competition for Power between Sparta and Athens
15:51 - Chapter 3. Cimon, His Popularity and Rise to Power
30:29 - Chapter 4. The Thasian Rebellion and the Eventual Removal of Cimon
42:59 - Chapter 5. A Fuller Athenian Democracy
55:12 - Chapter 6. Organization of Athenian Democracy: The Legislative
01:04:42 - Chapter 7. Organization of Athenian Democracy: The Executive

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Fall 2007.



Published on Nov 28, 2014
The government of the United States borrowed ideals from democratic rule in ancient Athens, Greece.



Published on Oct 3, 2014
Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Athens is one of the first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the Athenian model, but none are as well-documented as Athens.
It was a system of direct democracy, in which participating citizens voted directly on legislation and executive bills. Participation was not open to all residents: to vote one had to be an adult, male citizen, and the number of these "varied between 30,000 and 50,000 out of a total population of around 250,000 to 300,000." At times, the opinion of voters could be strongly influenced by the political satire of the comic poets at the theatres.


This video is targeted to blind users.

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Article text available under CC-BY-SA
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