Leader Democracy, Post-democracy, Inverted Totalitarianism: Democratic Theory beyond Crisis Diagnoses and Reform Optimism

Abstract

In the recent literature on democracy in advanced western(ised) societies two strands are particularly visible: firstly the at times somewhat alarmist work on the decline and exhaustion of democracy, and secondly the more optimistic work on democratic innovations and reform. Despite their obvious differences in tone, both strands are proceeding from the diagnosis of a ‘crisis of democracy’ which they believe can be cured. Suggested remedies tend to differ substantially, but ultimately, the re-invention, re-invigoration or re-suscitation of democracy (values, behaviour, institutions) is the shared objective. The proposed panel explores the state of advanced modern democracies from a less backward-looking perspective. Rather than from the diagnosis of a temporary ‘crisis’ it assumes that advanced modern societies are experiencing a fundamental ‘transformation’ of democracy. Comprehensive changes to democratic values, expectations, patterns of behaviour and attitudes towards, for example, political leadership, representation, legitimacy etc. all contribute to the emergence of an entirely new form of democracy – that, as yet, remains to be conceptualised. Starting out from this hypothesis the panel investigates, firstly, what recent thinking/writing on ‘leader democracy’ (e.g. Körösényi 2005), ‘post-democracy’ (e.g. Crouch 2004) and ‘inverted totalitarianism’ (Wolin 2008) has to offer for the conceptualisation of this transformation of democracy. Secondly, it explores what conceptual and normative consequences follow from the diagnosis of a transformation in contrast to the crisis diagnosis. The papers are adopting a primarily theoretical approach. Both panel chairs have published extensively on the topic of post-democracy and have critically pushed the boundaries of the debate. The discussant, Michael Th. Greven (Hamburg), is one of the most prominent democratic theorists in Germany. All other contributors to the panel are internationally leading scholars whose thinking has reconfigured contemporary democratic theory. There will be a total of 5 papers. Confirmed contributions include: 1. Ingolfur Blühdorn, University of Bath, UK: Simulative democracy: Democratic Politics beyond the postdemocratic turn 2. Dirk Jörke, University of Greifswald, Germany: After the post-democratic diagnosis: From democratic systems to democratic acts 3. András Körösényi, University of Budapest, Hungary: Empowerment and disempowerment in leader democracy. Keywords: democratic crisis, post-democracy, democratic transformation

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