Moving on from earlier debates about political disaffection and political apathy, and further developing the analysis of perceived processes in many contemporary democracies of depoliticisation, deparliamentarisation, presidentialisation etc., there has recently been a lot of debate about post-democracy. This paper distances itself from the polemic, primarily backward-oriented and strongly normative use of this term and develops the concept of the post-democratic turn, which is understood as a socio-cultural shift thoroughly comparable to the one described by Inglehart as the silent revolution. The paper argues that since the 1990s this cultural shift has profoundly changed the normative foundations of democratic politics. It explores the causes of this development and conceptualises the specific democratic needs this shift has generated. The older concept of the democratic paradox is further developed into the notion of a post-democratic paradox and post-democratic dilemma which present democratic decision makers and decision takers in contemporary consumer democracies with a formidable challenge. On this basis, the paper sketches the notion of simulative democracy which responds to the specific needs and dilemmas of advanced modern democracies. By way of conclusion it investigates how the three central democratic categories of participation, representation and legitimation are reconfigured in the context of simulative democracy.
