Democratic Innovations after the Post-Democratic Turn: Between Activation and Empowerment
Journal Paper by Marit Hammond
Critical Policy Studies | April 2020
Summary
When it comes to the status of democracy, the current times present a curious chasm: On the one hand, the depoliticisation of contemporary discourses and institutions has led to a legitimacy crisis of democracy; yet on the other, there has been a resurgence of normative democratic ideals and practical ‘democratic innovations’ in the sphere of civil society. This article evaluates the potential of these innovations to engender a genuine renewal of democracy by analysing them in relation to the concepts of ‘activation’ and ‘empowerment’. The theories of deliberative and participatory democracy originated as accounts of the deeper forms of democratisation needed for empowerment against the depoliticising forces of neoliberalism; yet, Marit Hammond argues, most of the innovations that have since emerged in their name fit the description of (mere) citizen activation—the elite-led engineering of citizen engagement that, beyond the control of the citizens themselves, not only fails to lead to empowerment, but can even work to perpetuate existing structures. In recognition of the ambivalent nature of the post-democratic condition, Marit Hammond argues academics and democracy practitioners must accept a new, more responsive role in relation to citizens and the wider society.
Introduction
When it comes to the status of democracy, a chasm has opened up between those analysing real-world events in advanced democracies to reach a diagnosis of ‘post-democracy’, and those undertaking normative theorising to celebrate a new surge of vibrant innovation in democratisation. Is the analytical diagnosis of post-democracy one-sided and overhasty, failing to see that the crisis only applies to the existing model of liberal, party competition-based democracy, not democracy as such? Are normative democratic innovators naïve and stuck in their own world, failing to usefully respond to what is really going on? Or might democratic innovations actually present a solution to the current failures of democracy—making the coexistence of these two perspectives no coincidence or mystery at all? Precisely because it is self-illusionment and miscommunications across different social spheres that mark the conditions of post-democracy, this article makes these two distinct literatures speak to each other, evaluating the role that normative theorising and practical innovation on democracy can and ought to still play after the post-democratic turn. While some may argue the reality of populism, rising illiberalism, post-truth and social division mean that normative concepts such as deliberation have lost their relevance, a more hopeful view would see such innovations as particularly pertinent in these conditions—provided they are fully informed by, and take seriously, what the post-democratic turn implies. This understanding is what this article hopes to contribute.
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The article is published with Taylor & Francis, and hosted on the Critical Policy Studies Journal website. If you have difficulties accessing the paper, please get in touch: info@cusp.ac.uk.
Citation
Hammond, M 2020: Democratic innovations after the post- democratic turn: between activation and empowerment. In: Critical Policy Studies, DOI: 10.1080/19460171.2020.1733629.
