Crisis of Democracy: Empty Signifier or Analytical Concept?

Since its beginning in ancient Greece the term democracy is linked to the term crisis. In modern political science “crisis of democracy” is one of the most common terms. Paradoxically, it is rarely defined and not specified anywhere beyond references to diffuseimagery. In simple terms, we can distinguish at least two uses of the term crisis: acute crisis and latent crisis. If the term crisis is to be freed of indefiniteness for use in comparative empirical research on democracy, it must be honed theoretically. If they are to be precise and analytically productive, concepts such as democratic crisis must fulfill at least the following conditions. It must be: - able to lay down criteria for distinguishing the beginning and end of crisis, - able to diagnose relevant symptoms of crisis - able to diagnose crisis progression - able to indicate factors that trigger crises of democracy.