Between empowerment and abuse: citizen participation beyond the post-democratic turn

In this special issue on “Democratization beyond the Post-Democratic Turn. Political Participation between Empowerment and Abuse”, we have explored changing understandings of participation in contemporary Western representative democracies through the analytical lens of the concept of the post-democratic-turn. We have investigated technology-based, market-based, and expert-led innovations that claim to enhance democratic participation and to provide policy legitimation. In this concluding article, I revisit the cases made by the individual contributors and analyse how shifting notions of participation alter dominant understandings of democracy. I carve out how new and emerging ideas of participation are based on different understandings of political subjectivity; furthermore, how constantly rising democratic expectations and simultaneously increasing scepticism with regard to democratic processes and institutions point to a growing democratic ambivalence within Western societies. Making use of Dahl’s conceptualization of democracy, in this article, I review changing understandings of participation in light of their contribution to further democratization. The article shows how under post-democratic conditions the simulative performance of autonomy and subjectivity has become central to democratic participation. It emphasizes that what in established perspectives on democratization might appear as an abuse of participation, through the lens of a post-democratic-turn might be perceived as emancipatory and liberating

Democratization beyond the post-democratic turn: towards a research agenda on new conceptions of citizen participation

Following extensive debates about post-democracy and post-politics, scholarly attention has shifted to conceptualizing the ongoing transformation of democracy. In this endeavour, the change in understandings, expectations and functions of political participation is a key parameter. Improving citizen participation is widely regarded as the hallmark of democratization. Yet, a variety of actors are also increasingly ambivalent about democratic institutions and the further expansion of participation. Meanwhile, new forms of participation are gaining in significance – neoliberal activation, the responsibilization of consumers, digital data mining, managed behaviour guided by choice architects – which some believe much improve representation, but which others perceive as a threat to the citizens’ autonomy. This article introduces a special issue focusing on the participation-democratization nexus in well-established democracies in the economically affluent global North. Based on a critical review of popular narratives of post-democracy and post-politics we sketch the notion of the post-democratic turn – which offers a new perspective on emerging forms of participation and in this special issue serves as a conceptual lens for their analysis. We then revisit more traditional conceptualizations of democratic participation which are challenged by the post-democratic turn. The article concludes with an overview of the individual contributions to this special issue

Partei ohne Erzählung: Die Existenzkrise der SPD

Man kann dieser Tage den Eindruck bekommen, dass die Sozialdemokraten davon überzeugt sind, ihren dramatischen Niedergang strikt formal und bürokratisch aufhalten zu können: Da wird mit Blick auf den wieder einmal neu zu bestimmenden Parteivorsitz voller Eifer über Doppelspitzen und Einzelbewerber diskutiert, über vorgezogene Parteitage und was diese wohl kosten werden, über Online-Abstimmungen, Regionalkonferenzen und Halbzeitbilanzen. Die Krise der Partei ist historisch – und vielen Mitgliedern ist dies durchaus bewusst –, die Reaktionen aber sind auf fast schon beängstigende Weise normal: keine Richtungsdebatten, kein Grundsatzstreit, nicht einmal ein Wutausbruch. Es herrscht, vornehm gesprochen, eine "narrative Leere" in der Partei. Die Sozialdemokraten wissen ganz offensichtlich nicht mehr, was sie wollen, und auch nicht mehr, was sie wollen sollen

Undermining or defending Democracy? The Consequences of Distrust for Democratic Attitudes and Participation

We can observe a well-documented decline of trust levels in Western societies: from the reputation of political representatives as being "not trustworthy" to the rise of anti-system-oriented populist parties. Yet the implications of different forms of distrust for a society and democratic institutions have been theorized in conflicting ways so far. In order to illuminate existing inconsistencies in social and democratic theory, this article addresses two research questions: What are the implications of different manifestations of distrust for the acceptance of democracy and democratic institutions? How do different forms of distrust affect the motivation to become engaged in democratic decision-making and in civil society institutions? Taking empirical evidence from 25 focus groups in Germany, our findings show that growing social divisions affect the role distrust plays for political interest representation of social groups and for the acceptance of liberal representative democracy

Die neuen Bürgerproteste in Deutschland: Organisatoren - Erwartungen - Demokratiebilder

Der "Wutbürger", 2010 zum Wort des Jahres gekürt, hat die Krise demokratischer Repräsentation in Deutschland auf einen Begriff gebracht: Immer mehr Bürger äußern Misstrauen gegenüber der etablierten Politik. Bei einer Betrachtung dieser Krise und ihrer Ursachen sind die Vorstellungen der Bürger von einer guten und gerechten Organisation von Politik, Wirtschaft und Staat zentral. Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit den Protagonisten der neuen Bürgerproteste - jenen Akteuren also, die ihren Glauben an die Funktionsfähigkeit unserer Demokratie eingebüßt haben: Wer sind sie, was fordern sie und welche Demokratie schwebt ihnen vor?The Wutbürger ("enraged citizen"), voted word of the year for 2010, boiled the crisis of democratic representation in Germany down to one concept: more and more citizens are expressing mistrust towards established politics. The citizens' visions of a sound and just organization of politics, economics and the state are central to an observation of this crisis and its causes. This study deals with the protagonists of these new civil protests - those stakeholders who have lost faith in the functionality of our democracy: who are they, what are their demands, and what kind of democracy do they envision

Die neuen Bürgerproteste in Deutschland

Der "Wutbürger", 2010 zum Wort des Jahres gekürt, hat die Krise demokratischer Repräsentation in Deutschland auf einen Begriff gebracht: Immer mehr Bürger äußern Misstrauen gegenüber der etablierten Politik. Bei einer Betrachtung dieser Krise und ihrer Ursachen sind die Vorstellungen der Bürger von einer guten und gerechten Organisation von Politik, Wirtschaft und Staat zentral. Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit den Protagonisten der neuen Bürgerproteste - jenen Akteuren also, die ihren Glauben an die Funktionsfähigkeit unserer Demokratie eingebüßt haben: Wer sind sie, was fordern sie und welche Demokratie schwebt ihnen vor

Rethinking Populism: Peak democracy, liquid identity and the performance of sovereignty

Despite the burgeoning literature on right-wing populism, there is still considerable uncertainty about its causes, its impact on liberal democracies and about promising counter-strategies. Inspired by recent suggestions that (1) the emancipatory left has made a significant contribution to the proliferation of the populist right; and (2) populist movements, rather than challenging the established socio-political order, in fact stabilize and further entrench its logic, this article argues that an adequate understanding of the populist phenomenon necessitates a radical shift of perspective: beyond the democratic and emancipatory norms, which still govern most of the relevant literature. Approaching its subject matter via democratic theory and modernization theory, it undertakes a reassessment of the triangular relationship between modernity, democracy and populism. It finds that the latter is not helpfully conceptualized as anti-modernist or anti-democratic but should, instead, be regarded as a predictable feature of the form of politics distinctive of today's third modernity

Die neuen Bürgerproteste in Deutschland

Der "Wutbürger", 2010 zum Wort des Jahres gekürt, hat die Krise demokratischer Repräsentation in Deutschland auf einen Begriff gebracht: Immer mehr Bürger äußern Misstrauen gegenüber der etablierten Politik. Bei einer Betrachtung dieser Krise und ihrer Ursachen sind die Vorstellungen der Bürger von einer guten und gerechten Organisation von Politik, Wirtschaft und Staat zentral. Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit den Protagonisten der neuen Bürgerproteste - jenen Akteuren also, die ihren Glauben an die Funktionsfähigkeit unserer Demokratie eingebüßt haben: Wer sind sie, was fordern sie und welche Demokratie schwebt ihnen vor

Direct social action beyond party politics. How new subjectivities change the idea of social transformation

Currently proliferating alternative action organizations, such as food cooperatives, solidary agriculture, repair cafés, or DIY initiatives, pursue social transformation at a deliberate distance from party politics. Instead, they concentrate on changing society directly by altering everyday routines and thereby prefiguring an alternative society. Local and experimental movements promise to pioneer social alternatives, which traditional organizations appear to be unable to accomplish. This indicates a remarkable shift, since in the past, social mobilizations often pursued direct social action and party politics simultaneously. The current literature conceptualizes movements and parties primarily as cross-fertilizing allies or even potential hybrids (movement parties) yet struggles to explain why alternative action organizations in countries that have not experienced post-crisis austerity measures have largely abandoned the parliamentary arena. Addressing this gap, we compare contemporary understandings of direct social action in Germany with past understandings: that of the 1920s labour movement and the 1970s new social movements. Applying sociological theories of modernization, we demonstrate that processes of individualization and flexibilization have increased the demand for immediate experiences of social change and decreased the attractiveness of formal organization. Since this makes strategic alliances between movements and political parties increasingly unlikely, societies’ capacity to organize long-term social struggles might be impaired