Do Democratic Innovations Matter for Citizens?

Abstract

Democratic reforms and initiatives in recent years have intended to improve democracy. In many cases, it is understood that enhancing citizen involvement in politics through participatory processes can improve democracy as a political system. Accordingly, diverse participatory processes have proliferated across a range of policy and governmental arenas. However, in this context, it is too often assumed that all democratic innovations are welcome, thus ignoring possible conflicts or problems arising from embedding such innovations within established institutional landscapes. There are few studies aimed at analysing to what extent citizens are in favour of new democratic processes, as well as to understand what they may see as problematic in new political contexts that allegedly give more importance to public engagement. Hibbing and Theriss-Morse (2002), Neblo et al (2009), Hay (2007) and Stoker (2006) have done considerable groundwork towards analysing these issues, thus opening a much needed research agenda on this dimension of contemporary politics. The objective of this panel is to approach this dimension from both empirical and normative standpoints. We welcome all theoretical and / or empirical contributions that seek to analyse democratic innovations from the point of view of the publics involved. Do citizens actually want to be more involved in policy-making and politics? If so, to what extent, how and why? What problems and dilemmas arise from their point of view? And what can be learned from this line of inquiry in order to inform democratic innovation?