Transformations of democracy: crisis, protest and legitimation

Is democracy in crisis? On the one hand, it seems to be decaying under the leadership of political elites who make decisions behind closed doors. On the other hand, citizens are taking to the streets to firmly assert their political participation across the globe. Drawing on a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives, this collection examines the multiple transformations which both the practice and the idea of democracy are undergoing today. Transformations of Democracy starts by questioning whether there is a crisis of democracy, or if part of this crisis lies in the inadequacy of social and political theory to describe current challenges. Exploring a range of violent and nonviolent forms of resistance, this book asks how these are related to the arts, what form of civility they require and whether they undermine the functioning of institutions. In the final section, contributors examine the normative foundations of democratic practices and institutions, especially with regards to the tension between human rights and democracy and the special character of democratic authority.

Part 1. Democracy in crisis? The European crisis : the paradoxes of constitutionalizing democratic capitalism / Hauke Brunkhorst -- Democracy in crisis : why political philosophy needs social theory / Regina Kreide -- Radical philosophy encounters the uprisings : lessons from Greece / Costas Douzinas -- Citizenship, democracy and the plurality of means, forms and levels of participation / Andreas Niederberger -- Part 2. Disobedience, protest and the public sphere. Being agitated -- agitated being : art and activism in times of protest / Oliver Marchart -- An ethics of public political deliberation / Simone Chambers -- Resisting resistance / Jane Mansbridge -- Digital publics, digital contestation : a new structural transformation of the public sphere? / Robin Celikates -- Part 3. Democracy revisited : new normative foundations for democracy? Is there a human right to democracy? / David Miller -- Democracy and moral rights / Stefan Gosepath -- Normative sources of democratic deliberation / Tilo Wesche -- Democratic autonomy and democratic authority / Henry S. Richardson.