Democratic innovations after the post-democratic turn: between activation and empowerment

ABSTRACT

When it comes to the status of democracy, the current times present a curious chasm: On the one hand, the depoliticization of contemporary discourses and institutions has led to both the diagnosis of a factual ‘post-democracy’ and a normative legitimacy crisis of democracy; yet on the other, there has been a resurgence of normative democratic ideals and practical ‘democratic innovations’ in the sphere of civil society. This article evaluates the potential of these innovations to engender a genuine renewal of democracy. I find that, despite their emancipatory underpinnings, most participatory and deliberative innovations fit a description of (mere) citizen activation – an elite-led engineering of citizen engagement that, beyond the control of citizens themselves, not only fails to lead to empowerment, but can even work to perpetuate existing structures. In recognition of the ambivalent nature of the post-democratic condition, I argue academics and democratic practitioners must accept a new, more responsive role in relation to citizens and the wider society.

KEYWORDS:

• Democratic innovations
• deliberative democracy
• participatory democracy
• empowerment
• activation
• post-democracy
• Ingolfur Blühdorn

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. https://participedia.net/, last accessed 11/08/2017.

https://participedia.net/, last accessed 11/08/2017.

2. Note that the need for self-empowerment does not render governance- or policy-driven efforts at creating empowerment obsolete: Policy frameworks and political structures are key inasmuch as they create (or obstruct) the preconditions for empowerment, and can give decisive impulses. They cannot, however, replace bottom-up empowerment entirely.

Note that the need for self-empowerment does not render governance- or policy-driven efforts at creating empowerment obsolete: Policy frameworks and political structures are key inasmuch as they create (or obstruct) the preconditions for empowerment, and can give decisive impulses. They cannot, however, replace bottom-up empowerment entirely.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/M010163/1].

Notes on contributors

Marit Hammond

Marit Hammond is Lecturer in Environmental Politics at Keele University, and Co-Investigator of the ESRC Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). Her research spans deliberative democracy, critical theory, and environmental governance. Recent work has been published by Palgrave Macmillan (Power in Deliberative Democracy, with Nicole Curato and John B. Min) and in journals such as Environmental Politics, Contemporary Political Theory, Policy Sciences, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, and Democratization.