Democratic Theory and Contemporary Crises

This section features recent work that addresses some of the ways in which contemporary crises shape and challenge core democratic values and corresponding theories of democracy. In an era marked by unprecedented social, legal, political, technological, and environmental crises, democratic theory faces an opportunity to reconsider received concepts and theories and adapt its tools to new questions. The section on "Democratic Theory and Contemporary Crises" invites political theorists to dissect the complex relationship between democracy and contemporary crises in their various manifestations. Do contemporary crises, taken independently or in combination, indicate a moment of crisis for democracy, and does democratic theory and practice still have the resources to withstand these threats? Do contemporary trends - such as populism - suggest a crisis in democratic theory itself? What does the concept of crisis contribute to democratic theory, and how should it be best understood? We have assembled eight panels, each exploring distinctive aspects of the relationship between democracy and crisis, and we invite additional proposals for panels or papers related to this theme. With this program, we aim to advance collective understanding of democratic theory and the democratic state’s potential and limitations for addressing major disruptions of the present and future. Contributions are welcome from all subfields, methodologies, and perspectives in political theory, including interdisciplinary approaches. We especially encourage panels that bridge divides in researchers’ backgrounds and perspectives. We welcome papers and panels discussing a number of themes, including but not limited to: ▪️ Concept of crisis and polycrisis ▪️ Emergency politics ▪️ Democratic regression and resilience ▪️ Political polarization and populism ▪️ Violence, revolution, secession ▪️ Technological or ecological disruption ▪️ Crisis reconciliation or resolution ▪️ Crises in economy, public health, education, etc. The ECPR Political Theory Standing Group has organized the following panels: 1: Emerging Technologies, Industry Self-Regulation, and Democratic Legitimacy The panel explores the democratic implications of private efforts to safeguard AI, quantum, and related technologies. On the one hand, developers and operators bear significant responsibility for mitigating ethical risks. On the other hand, given the pervasive effects of emerging tech, those who control its features enjoy considerable power, which might clash with notions of self-determination, political equality or public accountability. 2: Democracy and Incarceration: Recent Normative Approaches This panel will feature recent normative work in political theory which examines the challenges that proliferating practices of mass- or hyper-incarceration raise for governments that are committed to core democratic values and principles. Particular attention will be given to disproportionate incarceration of particular groups (hyper-incarceration), mass incarceration, as well as to democratically suspect policies deployed within carceral spaces. 3: Free Speech and Democracy: The Contemporary Crisis Free speech and democratic deliberation are reciprocally related, but the potential for conflicts between them have been amplified by recent political developments including populism and the private ownership of the free speech infrastructure (e.g. social media). This panel reflects on the relationship between free speech and democracy in light of these developments, including the implications for hate speech, fake news, and cancel culture. 4: Democratic Regression and Resilience: Illiberal Democracy, Populism and the Rule of Law After a decade of global democratic recession, there are glimmers of hope, also within the European Union, where notable examples of "democratic backsliding" have occurred. This panel addresses new developments in the debate about democratic regression and resilience, featuring contributions that discuss questions of militant democracy, rule of law, populism, illiberal democracy and the concept of regression. 5: Democratic Theory and Defensive Ethics This panel raises methodological and substantive questions at the crossroads of democratic theory and defensive ethics in contemporary political ethics. Methodologically, it explores the role of democratic theory in the political ethics of resistance, disobedience, protest, and voting—when these are grounded in a defensive ethics framework. Substantively, justificatory challenges of these political action types, of legitimate authority and resistance, and of futile resistance are explored. 6: Risk, Emergency Governance, and Democracy This panel looks at how large-scale and systemic risks, like financial crises or extreme weather events, are transforming democratic governance and citizenship in Europe and North America. We will feature presentations that combine normative political theory with applied democratic theory, and also that explore connections with the study of risk and emergencies in other fields such as empirical political science and sociology. 7: Anticolonial and Postcolonial Justice Drawing on a range of anticolonial and postcolonial thinkers and activists from different geographical contexts, this panel explores practices of political and economic resistance and claims-making in colonial and neocolonial settings. It highlights topics such as delinked regionalisms, anti-colonial appropriation, self-making, indigenous codeswitching, third world developmentalism and sufficiency. 8: Governing Climate Change Democratically The climate crisis is a challenge for democratic theory. Democracies are at their best when addressing problems which can be resolved by a) motivating the relevant community due to shared interests, b) co-ordinating their actions in a way that is efficient and fair, and c) rendering the policies in question into success stories for the relevant political agents securing their re-election. Sadly, none of the key aspects of the climate crisis fit this bill. We invite submissions for additional panels and papers.