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democratic theory

April 11, 2022

🦋 Beyond words: rescuing the democratic ideal

Viktor Orri Valgarðsson Viktor Valgarðsson argues that words are not enough to understand the concept of democracy. 'Democracy' denotes an important ideal that we must not sacrifice on a mountain of words. Read more
April 7, 2022

🦋 Who determines the practical meanings of democracy?

Friedel Marquardt Jean-Paul Gagnon’s endeavour has great potential for bringing unknown or ignored definitions to the fore. However, Friedel Marquardt argues, we hinder understanding and cut its empowering potential short if the communities these definitions are about do not get a chance to speak about their democracies Read more
April 7, 2022

China’s pandemic management and authoritarian resilience

Rongxin Li Unlike Western nations, China is reintroducing restrictions to counter the latest wave of Covid-19. Rongxin Li explains China's pandemic policy and its apparent acceptance by the Chinese people in the context of authoritarian resilience Read more
March 31, 2022

🦋 The 'Science of Democracy' demands scientific thinking

Mauricio Mandujano Manriquez Jean-Paul Gagnon's data mountain for rescuing the abandoned Science of Democracy is a worthy challenge. Nevertheless, Mauricio Mandujano Manriquez advocates for giving precedence to the epistemic commitments of the scientific enterprise and their implications Read more
March 24, 2022

🌊 Anti-democratic or exclusionary? Illiberalism's undertows matter

Jasper T. Kauth Not all illiberalisms are the same, argues Jasper T. Kauth. While anti-democratic, disruptive illiberalism and anti-liberal, ideological illiberalism may act simultaneously, analysing them individually will help us identify drivers of this phenomenon. Read more
March 21, 2022

🦋 Mountains of data need a (democratic) horizon

Rafael Khachaturian According to Rafael Khachaturian, Jean-Paul Gagnon’s 'lexical approach' misses the interpretive dimension of democracy. Instead, we need a self-reflexive theory of concept creation that treats democracy as an unfulfilled political project Read more
March 18, 2022

How Israel manages its democratic deficit

Niva Golan-Nadir Niva Golan-Nadir examines the diverse strategies state institutions use to manage unpopular policies while keeping the core of those policies intact. In Israel, citizens are only partially content with government measures to meet their demands. Crucially, however, Israelis are satisfied enough to prevent civil pressure on state institutions Citizens in modern democratic states enjoy civil […] Read more
March 17, 2022

🦋 Democracy is under threat, and we must use theory to save it

Simone Chambers This is not the time for collecting butterflies, writes Simone Chambers in response to Jean-Paul Gagnon. The threats to democracy we face today call for innovation and engagement, not typologies and definitions Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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