A Democratic Systems Approach: Embracing complexity

As society is becoming more complex, so too must our understanding of democracy. Yet, democracy studies often adopt specific, reductionist lenses—deliberative, participatory, or representative democracy—to analyze isolated elements of democratic systems. While these approaches provide valuable insights, they frequently neglect the broader constellation in which these elements operate. While democratic theory has made strides toward systemic perspectives (Dryzek, 2010; Mansbridge et al., 2012; Saward, 2021; Warren, 2017), existing frameworks remain fragmented and limited. This paper advances a democratic systems approach, offering a framework to analyze the complexity of democracy as a quality of political systems. We argue that democracy is not reducible to specific institutions, practices, or normative models. Instead, it is a plural and unified concept emerging from the interactions of multiple elements fulfilling political functions that can be performed more or less democratically. Our framework builds on five key dimensions: (1) democracy as a normative, unified, and plural concept centered on the aspirational ideal of equality and autonomy; (2) functions as analytical anchors to delineate and pinpoint the democratic quality of various social systems; (3) agents, both institutional and non-institutional, whose practices enact principles; (4) practices that realize functions and reflect normative commitments; and (5) the dynamic interplay of agents, practices, and environments. By integrating insights from existing systemic frameworks and developing original theoretical contributions, we aim to make a systemic approach to democracy more coherent and amenable to empirical research. Our framework offers resources for pluralistic, context-sensitive evaluations of democratic quality, recognizing the influence of external systems and evolving democratic standards. It finally advocates citizen involvement in defining and adapting democratic norms to address contemporary challenges. Dryzek, J. S. (2010). Foundations and Frontiers of Deliberative Governance. Oxford University Press. Mansbridge, et al. (2012). A systemic approach to deliberative democracy. Deliberative systems: Deliberative democracy at the large scale, 1-26. Saward, M. (2021). Democratic Design. Oxford University Press. Warren, M. E. (2017). A Problem-Based Approach to Democratic Theory. American Political Science Review, 111(01), 39-53. **** List of authors: Julien Vrydagh (Hasselt University), Afsoun Afsahi (University of British Columbia), Hans Asenbaum (University of Canberra), André Bächtiger (University of Stuttgart), Sonia Bussu (University of Birmingham), Rikki Dean (University of Southampton), Alice el-Wakil (University of Copenhagen), Andrea Felicetti (University of Padua), Brigitte Geissel (Goethe Universität), Antonin Lacelle-Webster (Yale University), Franziska Maier (University of Stuttgart), Jonathan Rinne (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena), Felipe Rey (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana), and Victor Sanchez-Mazas (University of Geneva).