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 Read more
Jen Roberts
Deliberative approaches like citizen assemblies are gaining traction, particularly to inform climate policy. To ensure the legitimacy of these processes, Jen Roberts and her team argue that the process of selecting experts involved in citizen deliberations should be transparent, and must consider diversity and inclusivity Read more
Christoph Mohamad-Klotzbach
One aim of the sciences of the democracies is to find different ways of making and keeping democracy visible, argues Christoph Mohamad-Klotzbach. Practitioners and imaginers of democracies are doing this job. They help to understand and transform the realities of democracies – step by step – for the sake of democracy Read more
Dawud Ansari
De-orientalising the scholarship on the Arab Gulf states is crucial, argues Dawud Ansari. Commentaries and datasets generalise them as ‘monarchies’, erasing vital differences between these countries. New terms are a starting point for transforming research on the wider region – an urgent objective given new crises and freshened global interest Read more
Maria Gloria Polimeno
COP27 will be held in Egypt, where environmentalism is being turned into new ways to control nature and citizens' lives under al-Sisi. This risks legitimating bio-autocracies, and it exposes the cowardice of green capitalism and sustainable neoliberalism, writes Maria Gloria Polimeno Read more
Reginald Oduor
Reginald M.J. Oduor encourages more political theorists to disentangle themselves from the idea that democracy and elections are inextricably bound. Through this he seeks to promote the pursuit of genuine citizen participation in post-colonial states in Africa and elsewhere Read more
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
Guido Panzano
The likely installation of a neo-fascist Prime Minister has generated considerable fears for the future of Italian democracy. Guido Panzano argues that we should use the tools available in political science to arrive at a more scientific understanding of the prospects for the quality of Italian democracy under such a government Read more
