Search results for ""Author Stephen Elstub""

In an era where citizens of liberal democracies are becoming increasingly disillusioned, dissatisfied and disenfranchised by the dominant political institutions and decision-making processes in these polities, new ideas of how to deepen democracy, re-engage citizens and enhance decision-making legitimacy are required. This book suggests that a combination of deliberative democracy and associational democracy is both a normatively desirable and an empirically plausible solution to the complex problems that are present in contemporary societies - as well as being compatible with many recent trends in governance. Author Stephen Elstub argues that by combining deliberative with associational democracy, the weaknesses of each model alone are compensated by the other, allowing the key strengths of each to manifest themselves. And he goes further by offering a detailed set of original, institutional requirements for liberal democracies that, if adopted, will enable a deliberative and associational democracy to be realised in practice. The book achieves this by starting off with first principles, considering arguments about why democracy is valuable and elaborating on why both deliberative and associational democracy - especially when combined - can enhance these normative principles which make democracy and its required revitalisation so important. Key Features *Contemporary focus, concerned with recent trends in governance *Presents new and innovative ideas of how to institutionalise deliberative democracy *Original in its philosophical discussion of autonomy and how to promote it *Covers an array of important thinkers on democracy and a myriad of concepts central to democratic theory

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Democracies are currently undergoing a period of both challenge and renewal. Democratic innovations are proliferating in politics, governance, policy, and public administration. This Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance advances understanding of democratic innovations by critically reviewing their importance throughout the world. The overarching themes are a focus on citizens and their relationship to these innovations, and the resulting effects on political equality and policy impact. The Handbook covers different types of democratic innovations; their potential to combat current problems with democracy; the various actors involved; their use in different areas of policy and governance; their application in different parts of the world; and the methods used to research them. Contributors therefore offer a definitive overview of existing research on democratic innovations, while also setting the agenda for future research and practice. Featuring a critical combination of theoretical, empirical and methodological work on democratic innovations, this insightful Handbook balances depth, originality and accessibility to make it an ideal research companion for scholars and students of democratic governance alike. Public administrators and participation practitioners will also benefit from its guidance on citizen engagement processes. Contributors include: G. Allegretti, J. Alver, E. Andersson, G. Baiocchi, B. Bedsted, S. Beste, L. Bherer, W. Blijleven, A. Bua, S. Bussu, E. Challies, J. Corbett, S.R. Davies, R. Dean, S. Elstub, O. Escobar, M. Evans, I. Ferreira, M. Flinders, E. Ganuza, B. Geissel, K. Grönlund, C. Harris, C.M. Hendriks, F. Hendriks, K. Herne, N.W. Jager, M.C. Jaramillo, M. Jäske, L. Kallio, C.F. Karpowitz, C.W. Lee, R. Levy, R. Lightbody, N. Mikami, J. Newig, S. Niemeyer, I. O'Flynn, L.J. Parry, T. Peixoto, T. Pogrebinschi, G. Pomatto, C. Raphael, M. Rask, J. Roberts, M. Ross, H. Russon Gilman, M. Ryan, M. Setälä, G. Smith, P. Spada, J. Steiner, G. Stoker, J. Talpin, A. Thompson, N. Thompson, M. van Hulst, A. Weale, M. Wood, D. Wyss

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This book addresses the problems with deliberative democracy - and potential solutions - in the context of empirical evidence. Deliberative democracy is the darling of democratic theory and political theory more generally, and generates international interest. In this book, a number of leading democratic theorists address the key issues that surround the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. They outline the problems faced by deliberative democracy in the context of the available empirical evidence, survey potential solutions and put forward new and innovative ideas to resolve these issues. Each chapter takes a key issue as its focus, looking at issues such as conflict, inequality, pluralism, participation and the public sphere.

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