Saving Democracy

Description

Democracy is in crisis. Is there still time to save it?
Democracies face external threat from aggressive authoritarian states. Internally, citizens have grown increasingly distrustful of politicians and more cynical about national and global governance institutions. The time is ripe for democracy to renew itself. This text offers a state-of-the art overview of democratic innovations today, moving beyond cries of the ‘death’ or ‘end’ of democracy to instead offer a range of practical solutions for how to save it and restore faith in democratic practice.
‘Old’ democratic power, represented by existing structures, is being challenged. ‘New’ power involves collaboration and rapid feedback loops, as well as increased citizen participation. The future of democracy, the authors demonstrate, will be about findings ways of melding ‘old’ and ‘new’ power practices. Offering a broad and accessible survey of what different forms of democracy and democratic innovations look like today, and how they can develop in future, Saving Democracy shows us the potential for transformation across the entire democratic process. Avoiding a reductive focus on simply getting citizens more involved in decision-making, this book uniquely argues for the importance of refining and monitoring how democratic decisions are made and followed through.

Mark Evans is Director of Democracy 2025 and Professor of Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis.
Gerry Stoker is Professor of Governance at the University of Southampton, UK.

1. Why ‘saving’ democracy?
2. Can democracy be saved?
Part 1: Interventions at the input stage to enable critical citizenship3. Building participatory governance systems
4. Direct democracy
5. Deliberative democracy
6. Design-led digital democracy
Part 2: Interventions at the throughput stage to improve the quality and integrity of politics7. Reforming elected assemblies
8. Cleaning-up politics
9. Embedding experts and evidence in democratic governance
10. Old and new media – power with responsibility
Part 3: Interventions at the output stage to improve the capacity of politics to deliver quality services and policy outcomes11. Improving the public service experience: the search for public value
12. Representing democracy and crisis management
13. Future proofing democracy
14. In conclusion – restoring and strengthening the ‘protective’ power of democracy

“At a time when pessimistic analyses of the failure of democracy have become ubiquitous, Saving Democracy provides a refreshingly clear and solution-orientated approach.” —Matthew Flinders, Vice President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre, University of Sheffield, UK“Evans and Stoker have brought together all the most innovative thinking on how to reform democracy into one book, offering a root-to-branch review of our political systems to unlock democracy’s full potential. Brimming with insight and data, and written in a clear and accessible style, Saving Democracy will be at the centre of debates surrounding how to reform democracy in the years to come.” —Hugo Drochon, Assistant Professor in Political Theory, University of Nottingham, UK“Democracy can be saved! Adopting a systematic perspective that captures exciting developments in participatory and deliberative democracy, alongside potential reforms to long established institutions and practices of democracy such as parliaments, public bureaucracies and political parties, Evans and Stoker offer a much needed recipe for democratic renewal. Whether or not you agree with all their proposals, you will admire their audacity in weaving together these disparate ingredients for systems change.” —Graham Smith, Professor of Politics, University of Westminster, UK“Saving Democracy offers a unique integration of sub disciplines in and around democratic studies that are rarely combined in such a comprehensive manner. Behaviour studies, Democratic Theory studies, Democratic Innovation Studies, Public Policy studies and Transparency studies, just to cite the main ones, are all integrated, creating a systemic theory of change for democracy. The book is a perfect companion for modules in public policy analysing democratic innovation.” —Paolo Spada, Lecturer in Comparative Politics and Methodology, University of Southampton, UK

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