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citizen empowerment

March 14, 2023

💊 Decidim: why digital tools for democracy need to be developed democratically

Adrian Smith New digital platforms for citizens' initiatives, such as Decidim, are becoming more popular. Adrian Smith and Pedro Prieto Martín argue that while the technology may not be developed in a democratic way, such instruments can develop into tools for democracy in today’s digital societies Read more
October 27, 2022

Complex laws are the price of inclusive democracy

Steffen Hurka Why are laws often so hard to understand? Steffen Hurka argues that the complexity of laws increases when political conflict becomes more intense and when decision-making becomes more inclusive. Democracies aim for compromise and the balancing of interests, and complex laws are the inevitable consequence Read more
October 18, 2022

🦋 Towards human flourishing as the purpose of democracy

Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley Ethical democratic practices are informed by understanding what it means to be human and how we may flourish as a species alongside non-humans. This is, Eri Mountbatten-O’Malley argues, a useful way to orient ourselves in a dark time for democracy Read more
October 14, 2022

📐 Reintegration into China would cost Taiwan its empowerment rights

Stephen Bagwell The case of Hong Kong shows that Chinese Communist Party dominance has a negative impact on empowerment rights. For Taiwan, though, it could end up much worse. Stephen Bagwell and Meridith LaVelle explore the potential outcomes of this scenario, using evidence from Hong Kong and data from the Human Rights Measurement Initiative Read more
August 10, 2022

🦋 Designing democracy: let the people choose how to govern themselves

Brigitte Geißel Most people agree that citizens are the sovereign in a democracy, but this principle is amazingly neglected when it comes to the design of democracy. Brigitte Geißel advocates for a new approach. Democracy means self-governing, so citizens should decide how to govern themselves Read more
June 9, 2022

🦋 The best use of our limited resources in service of democracy?

Ramon van der Does Jean-Paul Gagnon views the construction of a taxonomy of democracy as a key way to address challenges to democracy. Yet, argues Ramon van der Does, such fundamental research is a luxury we cannot afford if we seek to be effective in bringing power to the people. Read more
December 7, 2021

The EU's democratic problem – and what can be done about it

Christine Neuhold Does the European Union have a democratic problem? Here, Christine Neuhold summarises a lively debate that aims to tackle this question. The EU’s democratic deficit dominates discussion, but citizen participation is now being trialled through the innovative Conference on the Future of Europe Read more
March 29, 2021

The Conference on the Future of Europe lacks a clear conception of democratic authorisation

Markus Patberg The Conference on the Future of Europe aims to produce proposals for EU ureform in a participatory manner. Yet, writes Markus Patberg, its setup suggests top-down steering, and lacks a clear conception of democratic authorisation. The envisaged forms of broad but unsystematic inclusion might even be counterproductive to the declared goal of empowering citizens Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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