The place and nature of elections in the theory and practice of democracy are increasingly contested. What justifies the use of elections rather than other means of selecting representatives for political office, and what, if anything, counts as a democratic election and as democratic behaviour within an election are far from clear. In response, this workshop aims to clarify the contours and possibilities of a political theory of democratic elections and to shed light on its conceptual, normative, and practical dimensions. The workshop also aims to consolidate the new ECPR research network on the political theory of elections.
Democratic theory presently faces three important tasks with respect to elections. In response to recent vigorous defences of sortition as a mechanism for allocating political office, democratic theory must refine the democratic case for elections, and reconsider what it implies for the proper role of elections in a democracy, their potential reform, and the extent to which elections should be complemented with non-electoral procedures like sortition, appointment or rotation of public offices. In response to oligarchic tendencies and democratic backsliding in numerous democracies around the world, democratic theory must further explore the distinctive features of genuinely democratic elections as well as examine how elections can be reformed for the better promotion of democratic ideals. And in the face of large-scale electoral abstention and elite-driven contestation of electoral results, democratic theory finally needs to illumine the principles that should guide the behaviour of the different agents participating in democratic elections – ie voters, candidates, parties, and electees, and election losers. Yet, none of these tasks have been sufficiently completed. Work in each area is underway – some defence of elections against sortition have been published (Landa & Pevnick 2021; Lever 2023; Rummens & Geenens 2023; Grandjean 2024), the ethics of voters’ electoral participation is gaining attention (Lever 2010; Beerbohm 2012; Maskivker 2018; Elliott 2023), and the research on democratic innovations is burgeoning (Smith 2008; Geissel & Newton 2012; Elstub & Escobar 2019; Asenbaum 2022). However, a focused effort is still required to develop fully the political theory of democratic elections.
Asenbaum, H. (2022). Rethinking democratic innovations: A look through the kaleidoscope of democratic theory. Political Studies Review, 20(4), 680-690.
Beerbohm, E. (2012). In our name: The ethics of democracy. Princeton University Press.
Elliott, K. J. (2023). An institutional duty to vote: Applying role morality in representative democracy. Political Theory, 51(6), 897-924.
Elstub, S., & Escobar, O. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of democratic innovation and governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Geissel, B. & Newton, K., (Eds.). (2012). Evaluating Democratic Innovations: Curing the Democratic Malaise?. Routledge.
Grandjean, G. (Ed.). (2024). Against Sortition?: The Problem with Citizens' Assemblies. Imprint Academic.
Landa, D., & Pevnick, R. (2021). Is random selection a cure for the ills of electoral representation?. Journal of Political Philosophy, 29(1), 46-72.
Lever, A. (2010). Compulsory voting: A critical perspective. British Journal of Political Science, 40(4), 897-915.
Lever, A. (2023). Democracy: Should We Replace Elections with Random Selection?. Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 56(2), 136-153.
Maskivker, J. (2019). The duty to vote. Oxford University Press.
Rummens, S., & Geenens, R. (2023). Lottocracy Versus Democracy. Res Publica, 1-19.
Smith, G. (2009). Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation. Cambridge University.
1: What if anything is the democratic justification for elections, and what does it imply for their organisation?
2: What distinguishes genuinely democratic elections from various kinds of sham elections?
3: What reforms and innovations, if any, can bolster the democratic pedigree and promise of elections?
4: Should representative elections be supplemented with alternative mechanisms for allocating political power?
5: What do democratic ideals imply for the conduct of voters, candidates, parties, electees and electoral losers?
1: Elections and the justification of democracy
2: Electoral democracy in ideal, non-ideal and highly-non-ideal theory
3: The design of democratic elections and electoral innovations
4: Democratic alternatives/supplements to elections
5: The differences between democratic and undemocratic elections
6: Electoral integrity
7: Electoral democracy, oligarchy, and democratic backsliding
8: The ethics of voting, standing, and campaigning
