Nathan Pippenger
Do democracies have to choose between diversity and social cohesion? The African-American writer Ralph Ellison spent his career resisting this false choice, arguing that the idea of a 'common culture' did not have to amount to assimilation. Nathan Pippenger argues that Ellison’s distinctive perspective on these issues holds important lessons for democracies today Read more
Justin Kempf
Many political scientists have analysed democratic backsliding. Justin Kempf shows how some are helping activists refine their strategies and tactics to challenge autocrats and the basis of their rule. This provides an example of how political science can do much more than just conducting analysis and providing simple diagnoses Read more
Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy argues that the recovery of democracy is contingent upon enabling participation and recovering trust though a high-energy democracy. We need political and institutional imagination to develop political institutions capable of addressing ecosocial challenges – including sustainability and equality Read more
Remi Chukwudi Okeke
Remi Chukwudi Okeke argues that democracy's adherents often jettison it for other forms of governance, like authoritarianism, when it is no longer convenient for them. Embracing an ethic of inconvenient democracy may undo this pernicious dynamic Read more
Petr Špecián
Petr Špecián argues that democracy would benefit from experimenting with alternative institutional designs in simulated digital worlds. By providing a ‘playground’ with well-calibrated stakes, such an approach could accelerate innovation and help navigate democracy through the challenges of the 21st century Read more
Hannah Chapman
Amid concerns of declining support for democracy worldwide, recent research points to a way forward. Hannah Chapman, Margaret Hanson, Valery Dzutsati, and Paul DeBell show that how people define democracy influences their support for it Read more
Steven Youngblood
Mis- and disinformation are an existential threat to democracy. Steven Youngblood shows how the principles of peace journalism can combat its corrosive effects Read more
Peter Donkor
Peter Donkor argues that the democratisation of our social lives is contingent upon a democratic political sphere. Doubling down on 'spillover theory', he urges governments to lead bolder democratisation efforts to show how ever-more democratic procedures are, indeed, preferable to authoritarian regimes and authoritarianism at home, school, work and beyond Read more
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