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democratic theory

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 11, 2022

🦋 Democracy must not be a distracted caterpillar

Phil Paine Phil Paine is reminded of the caterpillar who, when asked in which order it moved each of its feet, found itself ‘distracted in a ditch, wondering how it walked’. He suspects that there are misapprehensions about the role of definitions in advancing democracy Read more
October 5, 2022

🦋 Understanding democracy without the ‘D-word’

Yida Zhai Public perceptions of democracy are diverse, and some even see democracy in authoritarian regimes. So directly using ‘democracy’ in surveys is prone to elicit biased responses. Therefore, Yida Zhai argues, it is necessary to conceptualise and operationalise democracy in an alternative manner without using the ‘D-word’ Read more
September 26, 2022

🦋 Minben 民本 as an alternative to liberal democracy

Rongxin Li Democracy is unconsciously linked to 'the West', avers Rongxin Li, especially Anglo-Saxon-type governmental arrangements such as liberal democracy. Seeing how our planet speaks about 'democracy' to those who can hear it, all forms of 'democracy', like Minben, should be on an even standing with Western models Read more
September 20, 2022

🦋 Democracy as a way of living

Sonia Bussu Sonia Bussu argues that the way we understand democracy has been colonised by ‘liberal democracy’ and capitalism. As a result, democracy is far removed from our daily lives. We need to free ourselves from these constraints to see the possible alternatives, which are embodied in democracy as a way of living Read more
September 12, 2022

Democratisers vs autocratisers: Great Power competition and the path to democracy

Zarina Burkadze Promoting democracy without challenging external autocratisers and checking local democratic elites may be counterproductive, argues Zarina Burkadze. Great power competition has always had an impact on the domestic politics of small nations, and this is apparent in the conflicts and international politics of today Read more
August 25, 2022

The political potential of placemaking

Ryan Salzman For Ryan Salzman, placemaking is a viable form of political participation that has the potential to meet or exceed some forms of traditional participation in democratic effectiveness. It is time we recognised these contemporary alternatives to traditional political participation so that we can truly understand twenty-first century democracy Read more
August 24, 2022

Failures in constitutional design are at the heart of the crisis in western democracies

Timothy Hellwig Timothy Hellwig explores the political crises in three European democracies (France, Italy and the UK) to argue that failures in constitutional design are at the root of their problems. These failures, moreover, are not dissimilar to those experienced in the United States, suggesting this is a current affliction of western democracies Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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