Maija Setälä
Democratic renewal demands openness to different understandings of democracy, and reflection on our preconceptions. Maija Setälä argues that it also requires analytical clarity and normative commitment Read more
Matthew Flinders
Launching this series, Jean-Paul Gagnon made the case for ‘a database of democracy’ to grasp the conceptual complexity that other theorists have, he suggests, generally skirted around. Matthew Flinders disputes whether a taxonomical approach really is the answer to the question ‘What is democracy?’ Read more
Hager Ali
Only a few months remain before elections in Libya. But Western policymakers are focusing on election preparations and the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, to the neglect of other pressing matters. Hager Ali argues that unless Libya tackles its political and military problems, elections may prove little more than a sticking plaster on a bullet wound Read more
Luca Manucci
Luca Manucci, in a panoramic survey of the rise of illiberalism in our times, argues that this trend is feeding on authoritarian historical legacies and memories which are being rewritten before our eyes. It is an exercise all democrats should challenge, and resist Read more
Laurence Whitehead
Democracy may have different meanings in different cultures. Yet, writes Laurence Whitehead, the concept of democracy also operates at a universal level where users can communicate with each other across time and space Read more
Zeynep MenteÅŸoÄŸlu Tardivo
Zeynep Mentesoglu Tardivo analyses the role played by nominally democratic political institutions in authoritarian regimes. She argues that rulers design such institutions to consolidate their power base, even at the cost of economic and political development Read more
Hans Asenbaum
How can we capture the many meanings of democracy? We need to critically reflect on who produces knowledge about democracy, argues Hans Asenbaum. People outside academia must play a central role in democratic theorising Read more
