Eva Cherniavsky
Can the people reclaim failing democratic institutions around the globe? Eva Cherniavsky argues that the demos itself must first be reconstituted. In this context, democracy’s myriad historical meanings assume an immediate political relevance Read more
Petra Guasti
Petra Guasti takes inspiration from the natural world to propose a way to organise the taxonomy of democratic theory. In a joint effort, and using a three-step process akin to Linnaeus and Darwin, she suggests that democratic theorists could create an encyclopedia of democracies Read more
Markus Pausch
Collecting the words of democracy like butterflies is a worthwhile endeavour. But it doesn't work without normative valuation and a democratic context. The butterflies are not only around us, but in us! And they need an intact environment to survive, writes Markus Pausch Read more
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
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 Menteşoğlu 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
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