Defining democratic inclusion from the perspective of democracy and citizenship theory

Figures & data

Table 1. Democracy’s Principles

Liberty	Negative Sense	Protections of rights and freedoms	Equality before the law	Civic	Equality
		Non-domination
		Constitutionalism
	Positive Sense	Participation in policy making	Equal consideration of preferences	Political
		Self-government
		Popular sovereignty

Source: Own elaboration

Table 2. Democracy and Inclusion

Representative Democracy’s Dilemmas		Inclusionary Strategies
Demos boundary	Inequality between polity members and non-members	Demos’ widening
Incongruity	Inequality between representatives/officials and constituents (tyranny of the ruling minority)	Power control and dispersion/ responsiveness, accountability
Disparity	Inequality between strong and weak preferences (tyranny of the majority)	Minority protection, enhancement of pluralism and diversity in participation, representation and policy impact
Foreclosure	Inequality between present and future citizens	System openness/ distinction between current government and enduring state

Source: Own elaboration.

Table 3. Citizenship and Inclusion

Deepening (≠ Erosion)	Enforcement = Enlargement of the sphere of effective validity of (formally) recognized rights
Extension (≠ Restriction)	Formal incorporation of new groups into legally acknowledged rights
Expansion (≠ Curtailment)	Official introduction of new rights for all or for certain groups

Source: Own elaboration

Table 4. Convergence between Democracy and Citizenship Theory

Democracy	Liberty	Protections of rights and freedoms	< Equality >	Civil rights	Rights	Citizenship
		Non-domination
		Constitutionalism
		Participation in policy making		Political rights
		Self-government
		Popular sovereignty

Source: Own elaboration

Table 5. Dimensions of civic and political inclusion

Demos’ boundary	Incongruity	Disparity	Foreclosure
Civic definition	Vertical accountability/power control	Civic status (identity, religion, safety, etc.)	Distinction between political contingency and fundamental structures
Political definition	Horizontal accountability/power dispersion	Individual and group participation (impact)	Distinction between government and state
Symbolic definition		Individual and group representation (impact)

Source: Own elaboration.