Prof Graham Smith

Graham is Professor of Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster. Currently, he is spending much of his time working as the founding Chair of the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA) funded by the European Climate Foundation.

His main research interests are in democratic theory and practice, particularly democratic innovations / participatory democratic institutions and their relationship with climate governance and other long-term political challenges. His book Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation is widely recognised as key to the establishment of this area of study.

Recent publications include Democracy in a Pandemic: Participation in Response to Crisis—an open access collection edited with colleagues at the participation charity Involve—and Can Democracy Safeguard the Future?.

Graham is a collaborator with the global Participedia network (funded by SSHRC) and was until recently Chair of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development (FDSD).

WORK W/ CUSP

As Honorary Fellow with CUSP, Graham is working with colleagues such as Marit Hammond, Brian Doherty, Ian Christie and Victor Anderson to take forward the research agenda on the implications of sustainable prosperity for democratic institutions and practices. Key themes are why democracy matters for sustainable prosperity and the design and implementation of potential institutional innovations. Where there are synergies, this work is taken forward in partnership with the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development.

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