Towards a Linked democracy model

In this chapter we lay out the properties of participatory ecosystems as linked democracy ecosystems. The goal is to provide a conceptual roadmap that helps us to ground the theoretical foundations for a meso-level, institutional theory of democracy. The identification of the basic properties of a linked democracy eco-system draws from different empirical examples that, to some extent, exhibit some of these properties. We then correlate these properties with Ostrom's design principles for the management of common-pool resources (as generalised to groups cooperating and coordinating to achieve shared goals) to open up the question of how linked democracy ecosystems can be governed

Toward a polycentric low-carbon transition: the roles of community-based energy initiatives in enhancing the resilience of energy systems

An understanding of the resilience of energy systems is critical in order to tackle forthcoming challenges. This chapter proposes that the polycentric governance perspective, developed by Vincent and Elinor Ostrom, may be highly relevant in formulating policies to enhance the resilience of future energy systems. Polycentric governance systems involve the coexistence of many self-organized centers of decision making at multiple levels that are formally independent of each other, but operate under an overarching set of rules. Given this polycentric approach, this chapter studies the roles of community-based energy initiatives and, in particular, of renewable energy cooperatives, in enhancing the institutional resilience of energy systems. In this perspective, the chapter identifies three major socio-institutional obstacles, which undermine this resilience capacity: the collective action problem arising from the diffusion of sustainable energy technologies and practices, the lack of public trust in established energy actors and the existence of strong vested interests in favor of the status quo. Then, it shows why the development of community-based energy initiatives and renewable energy cooperatives may offer effective responses to these obstacles, relying on many empirical illustrations. More specifically, it is argued that community-based energy initiatives present institutional features encouraging the activation of social norms and a high trust capital, therefore enabling them to offer effective solutions to avoid free riding and enhance trust in energy institutions and organizations. The creation of federated polycentric structures may also offer a partial response to the existence of vested interests in favor of the status quo. Finally, some recommendations for policymakers are derived from this analysis

Trust and Openness: Prerequisites for Democratic Engagement ?

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights are reserved. The impact of political trust on political participation is still contested, especially considering the variety of political expressions citizens use as political tools. A further complication is added by the substantial differences in the context under which participation take place and the contextual impact on the link between political trust and participation. We here examine how political trust affects institutionalised and non-institutionalised forms of political participation. Furthermore, we examine how these linkages are affected by the institutional openness of the political system, since this constitutes a central element of the context of participation. These research questions are examined using data from the fourth round of the European Social Survey from 2008 including 26 democratic countries and a total of 49,979 respondents. The results suggest that political trust promotes institutionalised participation and has a negative impact on non-institutionalised participation. Furthermore, the institutional context mediates the effect of political trust on political participation meaning that institutional openness strengthens the effect of political trust on institutionalised participation whereas it weakens the effect of political distrust on non-institutionalised participation.status: publishe