Parties as Actors of Democratic Redirection

Abstract

The goal of this workshop is to discuss the role of political parties, in the effort to find an effective ‘rectificatory’ strategy of representative democracy. The point of departure is a rather simple argument: parties are not over but, in order to find a significant role in the present political scenario, they have to live together with a process of evolution and significant redefinition of the whole representative ecology. In other words, it is possible – and probably desirable – to envisage the return to the “party democracy” model – along the lines spelled out in recent times by Peter Mair and Bernard Manin. However, this means recognizing that the machinery, structures, and operational processes of traditional parties cannot be reproduced. Parties need a continuous refoundation, taking into account a mobile system of relationships among elites, institutions, and citizens. In this perspective, the notion of democratic redirection is introduced. The panel aims at hosting both theoretical papers and empirical research about the role that political parties should play in this evolutionary context.

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