Articles by Alex Prior

September 28, 2023

🦋 What we (don’t) talk about when we talk about democracy

Alex Prior

Examining the first 99 entries in our Science of Democracy series, Alex Prior identifies an asymmetry between references to people (demos) and power (kratos). Through a discussion of this asymmetry and its possible causes, he calls for increased attention to power, in the sense of its ability to effect change

December 19, 2022

🦋 We must rethink our understanding of democratic trends

Alex Prior

The ‘total texture’ of democracy exists, and we can observe it, argues Alex Prior. This is possible through a conceptualisation of this ‘texture’ as fractal: being complex and self-referential at every scale. Through this perspective, we can problematise long-standing – but nevertheless incomplete – analogies of democracy and democratisation

July 8, 2022

🦋 The butterfly effect: representation as fractal politics

Alex Prior

What does a coastline have in common with effective rhetoric? Each component resembles something bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And what can this sort of fractal pattern show us about politics? To Alex Prior, fractals illustrate successful representation, and the impulses that drive it

Alex Prior

Lecturer in Politics with International Relations, London South Bank University

Alex’s research focuses on public engagement with parliaments and other political institutions.

His work also discusses the usefulness of narratives and storytelling in conceptualising, as well as strengthening, political engagement.

He tweets @VoterEngagement

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