This workshop aims to analyse the ways in which political parties approach four common models of democracy: representative, direct, deliberative and expert-based / technocracy. The workshop seeks to achieve three main objectives: 1) to address theoretically the relationship between political parties and models of democracy beyond normative goals and electoral communication, 2) to analyse the ways in which political parties use internally and externally different models of democracy to improve their organization, political support and policy effectiveness, 3) to identify and explain the attitudes of voters, members and political elites towards different models of democracy used by political parties.
The workshop will bridge several strands of literature that address decision-making from several angles. Traditionally, parties have been the main political institutions for interest representation, organization and aggregation, democracy promotion and decision-making in contemporary democracies (Dalton and Wattenberg 2000; Webb and White 2007; Bolleyer 2013). Over the last four decades, several lines of enquiry have emerged in the context of an increasing critique brought to representative democracy and its political institutions. The dissatisfaction and disaffection of citizens have been reflected in lower levels of trust, political participation and legitimacy (Norris 2011; Dalton 2019). Building on the idea that the solution for the ills of democracy is more democracy (Dewey 1927), earlier research advocates greater participatory democracy on the side of citizens (Pateman 1970; Barber 1984; Smith 2009) and the use of experts as alternatives to politicians in the decision process (Hibbing and Theiss-Morse 2002). The study of direct democracy, deliberative democracy and technocracy showed a different functioning compared to representative democracy, with benefits for society and the political system (Kriesi 2005; Fishkin 2011; Bertsou and Caramani 2020).
By bridging these divergent bodies of research, this workshop will advance the state of the art in the discipline by: 1) identifying ways in which various models of democracy can coexist and interact with key political institutions, 2) enhancing a dialogue between complementary angles to democracy and 3) providing a holistic approach to the current challenges faced by political parties and democracy.
Barber, Benjamin. 1984. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bertsou, Eri, and Daniele Caramani, eds. 2020. The Technocratic Challenge to Democracy. London: Routledge.
Bolleyer, Nicole. 2013. New Parties in Old Party Systems: Persistence and Decline in Seventeen Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dalton, Russell J. 2019. Citizen Politics. Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. 7th ed. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press.
Dalton, Russell J., and Martin P. Wattenberg, eds. 2000. Parties Without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dewey, John. 1927. The Public and Its Problems. Athens, OH: University of Ohio Press.
Fishkin, James S. 2011. When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hibbing, John R., and Elizabeth. Theiss-Morse. 2002. Stealth Democracy : Americans’ Beliefs about How Government Should Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kriesi, Hanspeter. 2005. Direct Democratic Choice. The Swiss Experience. Plymouth: Lexington Books.
Norris, Pippa. 2011. Democratic Deficit: Critical Citizens Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, Graham. 2009. Democratic Innovations. Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webb, Paul, and Stephen White, eds. 2007. Party Politics in New Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
1: Why do political parties promote / stay way from alternative models of democracy?
2: How do the alternative models of democracy complement the activity of political parties?
3: How internal / external party activities integrate new models of democracy?
4: Why people, party members and politicians demand / oppose models of democracy?
5: What are the consequences of parties’ engagement with models of democracy?
| Title |
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| United We Stand: Explaining the Use of Intra-Party Referendums in Europe |
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| What Drives the Level of Party Participation in Digital Referendum Campaigns? Evidence from Switzerland |
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| Democratic innovation without parties should be unthinkable |
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| Who Wants to be in the Driver’s Seat? Members’ Support for Intra-Party Democratic Innovations |
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| Explaining local politicians' perspectives towards the use of hybrid democracy |
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| PARTY FAMILIES AND PARTICIPATORY INSTITUTIONS: EFFECTS IN PARTICIPATORY INTENSITY AND DIVERSITY |
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| Types of political parties and the models of democracy that they adhere |
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| Attitudes of Icelandic Political Parties towards Direct and Deliberative Democracy |
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| Deliberation as a Remedy for the Democratic Malaise? The Attitudes of Opposition Politicians and Party Members in Hungary |
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| Digital Platforms and Party Structure in Barcelona en Comu |
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| Collective discussions: deliberative practices of European radical left parties |
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| Out and About: Why Political Parties Use Democratic Innovations |
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| Strategic motivations & normative objectives: Understanding the Rationale Behind Irish Politicians’ Support for Citizens’ Assemblies |
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| Orchestrating the Beat of Discord: How Citizens’ Understandings of Democracy Shape the Linkage Between Party System Polarization and Electoral Behavior |
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| Internal Party Democracy: Unpacking the countervailing forces of party regulation and continuing party elite power |
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| Deliberation, Plebiscitarianism and Representation: the trilemma of party democratic innovations |
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| Responsible or responsive? How new challenger parties use both technocratic and populist rhetoric to present a solution to the perceived crisis of representative democracy |
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| The internal democracy of the new European parties. A quantitative analysis. |
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