Inspired by the democratic origins of the Greek naval victory at Salamis, the book discusses the current pressing issues of democracy worldwide. In 12 carefully selected chapters, well-renowned scholars from around the globe discuss topics such as Brexit, Euroscepticism, or the rise of populism. The authors further analyze various aspects of democracy, as well as various types of democratic regimes, such as mixed government, direct democracy, and cases of quasi democracies. While doing so, they relate this discussion to the pivotal question of how the quality of democracy today can be improved, seeking answers and solutions to current pending problems at the global level.
This book is the second out of two edited volumes as a sequel of an international academic conference titled Salamis and Democracy: 2500 Years After that took place between October 3rd and October 5th, 2020, on the occasion of the 2500th anniversary of the great historical event of the Battle of Salamis, which saved Greek culture and the newly founded democratic regimes throughout the Hellenic world during the Classical period (508-323 BCE). The book is a must-read for scholars and students of political science, economics, and law, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of democracy, governance, populism, social choice, and constitutional law.
Author(s): Emmanouil M.L. Economou, Nicholas C. Kyriazis, Athanasios Platias
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 229
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Contributors
Introduction: Democracy in Times of Crises
References
Part I: Challenges, Crises and Threats to Democracy
The Crisis of Democracy: A Self-Inflicted Wound
1 Introduction
2 Democracy, Demagoguery, and Mixed Government
3 The Progressive Revolt and Its Consequences
4 Initiatives and Referendums
5 Primaries
6 What About Europe?
7 Human Beings and Their Limitations
8 Prospects for Change
9 Conclusion
References
Democracy Erodes from the Top: Public Opinion and Democratic ``Backsliding´´ in Europe
1 The Extraordinary Normalcy of European Public Opinion
1.1 Support for Immigration
1.2 Support for European Integration
1.3 Political Trust and Satisfaction with Democracy
2 Public Opinion and the Erosion of Democracy in Hungary and Poland
2.1 Hungary
2.2 Poland
2.3 Public Opinion and Democratic ``Backsliding´´
3 Public Opinion as It Is
References
Part II: Defining the Limits of Democratic Governance
On the Limits of Democracy
1 Extending Democracy
2 Democracy Is Not a Voting Machine
3 Deliberative Democracy
4 Alongside Duty, Other Incentives Matter
5 Worker Participation and Cooperatives
6 Conclusion: Defending Democracy from Its Enemies and Friends
References
The Battle of Salamis and the Future of Democracy
1 Introduction
2 Twin Deficits and Lack of Prudence
3 Innate Deficiencies in Representative Party Democracy
3.1 Impossibility of Representation in Groups
3.2 Asymmetry of Information
3.3 The Deleterious Role of Political Parties
3.4 Uncoordinated Administrative Polycentrism
3.5 Sum Up
4 The Athenian Model of Self-Government
5 Advantages of Digital Direct Over Representative Party Democracy
5.1 Unbundling of Policies
5.2 Superior Flexibility and Efficiency
5.3 Institutional Arrangements for Every Citizen to Engage in State Governance
5.4 Procedural Counterbalancing of Informational Asymmetries
5.5 Coordination Through Accountability, Personal Responsibility, and Commitment
6 Summary of Findings and Conclusions
References
Part III: Policies Towards Improving the Quality of Democratic Governance
Policy Making by Randomly Selected Citizens: The Perspective of Elected Politicians
1 Introduction
2 Recent Examples of Randomly Selected Citizens´ Assemblies
3 Selective Review of the Theory of Sortition
4 A Model of Policy Making by Elections and Randomly Chosen Citizens´ Assembly
4.1 Policy Making by Elected Politicians
4.2 Policy Making by a Randomly Selected Assembly of Citizens
4.3 The Choice of the Decision-Making Mechanism
5 Conclusions
Appendix 1 Comparative static properties of PA and PB
References
Legislature by Lot: A Way Out of the Problems of Modern Democracy or Just Another Unrealistic Approach?
References
Asymmetric Information, Social Choices, and Democracy
1 Introduction
2 Arrow´s Impossibility Theorem
3 Defining the Common Good Under Direct Democracy
4 Outline of the Theoretical Model
5 Further Considerations Regarding Direct Democracy Procedures in Decision-Making
6 Conclusion
References
Part IV: Intertemporal Aspects of Democracy Regarding Ancient and Modern Greece and the World
Democracy in Ancient and Modern Times: About the Relevancy of the Ancient Greek Experience for Our Own Societies
1 Celebrate Battles?
2 ``Relevancy Studies´´
3 Origins and Leitmotifs
3.1 How Greek Is Our Democratic Identity?
3.2 Democratic Origins: Why in Greece?
3.3 Freedom and Democracy: What Was the Hen, What Was the Egg?
3.4 Freedom and Equality: The Chicken-and-Egg Question No. 2
4 Present-Day Democratic Worries: In the Light of the Ancient Experience
4.1 Democracy: An Elitist Construct?
4.2 Participation and Civic Competence
4.3 Democracy of Values vs. Democracy of Interests
4.4 Popular Rule and Populism
4.5 Popular Rule and the Defence of Democracy
4.6 Digitalism: Opportunity or Threat?
4.7 Democratic Peace?
4.8 On the ``Future Competence´´ of Democracy
4.9 More Philosophy: For Democracy!
4.10 Emotional Democracy?
5 Final Considerations: Athenian Democracy Is Not an Aliud!
6 Attic Democracy Was Not an Aliud to Ours
References
Europe in Modern Greece: The Constant Navarino
1 Introduction
2 Modern Greece in European History
2.1 Greece and the European Union
3 Conclusion
References
Part V: Modern Aspects of Law in Relation to the Present-Day Democratic Institutions
Democracy and Social Rights
References
Public Confidence and the Judiciary in a Democratic Society
1 Judicial Independence in the International and European Framework
2 Accountability and Legitimacy of Judiciary
3 Judiciary and Public Confidence in the Case Law of European Court of Human Rights
4 Judiciary-Media-Society
5 Conclusions
References
Index
