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Promises and persils of representative democracy
Cordial invitation for all members
(Venue - Alte Mensa - please register via schaller@politik.uni-mainz.de)
For better or worse, democracy today is representative democracy. For most issues, elected representatives rather than citizens themselves decide. But these representatives must explain their actions to the governed, let the media and opposition parties scrutinize their choices, and face the trial of elections, in which citizens can render their verdict on incumbent governments. Parties are an essential part of representation as they connect citizens and policymakers, aggregate preferences, and offer different programmatic platforms. Yet, representative democracy faces several challenges.
First, citizens often have little trust in parliaments, parties, and politicians. Many poorly represented and think of politicians as detached from their own needs and political preferences. Indeed, recent work suggests that representative democracy does not cater for all citizens equally. At the same time, citizens’ political sophistication is not always high as they do not have strong incentives to acquire detailed information. Both trends make it hard to life up to the deliberative aspirations of representative democracy. Second, scrutinizing governments is difficult as decisions take place in multiple arenas and involve elected and non-elected bodies with different degrees of transparency and accountability. At times, media attention can be short-lived and focused on the most salient issues. In some countries, media take part in and even exacerbate polarization. Third, populist parties challenge existing procedures and institutions. As opposition parties they often mock democratic procedures and in government, even worse, they seek to alter them to their own advantages. Given these and other challenges, there is a debate about how to make representative democracy fit for the future. Potential answers could address either citizens themselves or seek institutional reforms that complement or replace existing procedures. In this two-day workshop, we want to discuss challenges of and reform options for representative democracy.