research questions about democracy

216 Democracy Essay Topics & Research Questions about Democracy

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✍️ democracy essay topics for college, 👍 good democracy research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting democracy topics for presentation, 📌 easy democracy essay topics, 💡 simple democracy essay ideas, ❓ research questions about democracy.

• Direct Democracy from Rousseau’s Perspective
• Rights & Duties and Basis of Democracy
• Democracy in Nigeria: Democratic Structure, Executive-Legislative Structure, and Electoral System
• French Revolution as a Turning Point to Democracy
• Democracy in the United States
• Majoritarian and Consensus Models of Democracy
• “Democracy and Its Critics” by Robert Dahl
• Biotech, Corporate Power, and Democracy: Oryx and Crake One of the very first non-human characters of the story is Crakers. The book states that was his first view of the Crakers.
• The Influence of Social Media on Democracy Democracy entails the protection of human rights among individuals facing social, economic, and political challenges.
• Democracy in The Lottery by Jackson Politics is an essential part of nowadays life. Politics are obligations of a state in regard to society and personality.
• Democracy: Advantages and Disadvantages Democracy has developed in a setting where people feel oppressed and generally being dictated upon or were unfair.
• Globalization and Democratization Relationship This paper explores the existing relationship between democracy and globalization. It focuses on democratization, globalization and their imperativeness.
• Ancient Civilizations: Athenian Democracy vs Australian Democracy Athens was one of the very first known democracies. It comprises of the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica.
• Impacts of the Democratization of Making Maps Democratization of Maps began in the late 1970s, although some geographers opposed the idea of democratization of maps with a view that it would lead to the demise of cartography.
• Is Russia a Democracy? The essay states that Russian democracy is not a true democracy but an emerging democracy where people as yet have limited freedom and rights.
• Democracy: Strengths and Weaknesses According to Thucydides and Plato The ancient Greek civilization handed the world a model of democracy that has been borrowed by many democratic societies globally up to the modern times.
• “How Democratic Is the American Constitution?” by Robert A. Dahl The book How Democratic is the American Constitution? by Robert A. Dahl is a provocative examination of the American constitution.
• Democratic Republic vs. Socialist State This paper aims to examine and compare the Democratic Republic and the Socialist State and present a personal opinion regarding the two systems.
• Democratic Leadership and Management Style The paper analyzes democratic leadership as the management style adopted by the author’s group, and approach to management indicated by the management style questionnaire.
• Is Russia a Real Democracy? Thus, a difficult question of whether there is a democracy in Russia is considered with a negative response in most parameters when comparing with other developed countries.
• Australia’s Liberal Democratic System This paper studies how Australia’s Liberal Democratic system that is a keystone of social policy in the country, enhances and or limits the well-being of its citizens.
• Industrial Revolution, Democracy and Equality The impact of the industrial revolution on society should not be understated. It transformed mostly agrarian economies into those oriented towards goods and services.
• Representative Democracy and Its Crisis Cases of crises associated with representative democracy include dictatorship, oligarchy, officials pursuing their own ambitions, and bribing of representatives.
• Whigs’ vs. Democrats’ Views on Slavery and Race The political life of America in the 1830s – early 1850s was largely determined by the rivalry between Whigs and Democrats.
• The East German Democratic Republic: Problems and Challenges The East German Democratic Republic had major issues, including its political practices, which contributed to the country’s collapse rather than triumph.
• Cultural Democracy and Internet Imperialism The source helps draw a connection between the conscious domination of cultural niches and its impact on global biases within media.
• Human Democracy and Technology Development The article explores the impact of technology on human rights and the human policies initiated to govern human rights and freedom in the digital era.
• How Democratic Is the American Constitution? This essay paper discuss deeply the American constitution, how democratic and anti-democratic it has been, and how it should be improved to be more democratic.
• How South Africa Is Developing a Democracy The lack of democratization within South African society can be seen as the primary problem that has to be managed for democratic principles to be established within the republic.
• Democratic Leadership Style and Responsibilities Democratic leadership style, which is also known as a participative style, is a leadership style that strives to involve employees in organizational management and decision making.
• The Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation The Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe book by Linz and Stepan explore the issue of democratic transitions.
• Plato’s “Republic” – What Is Democracy? An idealized version of a parliamentary government is the redefinition of democracy. Plato failed to see the possibility of transforming ordinary people into intelligent members of the electorate.
• Were the Founding Fathers Democratic Reformers? The Constitutional Convention, proposed by the democratic reformers, became the basis of the constitutional order in the country.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Democracy The article explores the integral role of social entrepreneurship in democratic societies, particularly in pre-democratic or emerging democracy contexts.
• Democratic Political System Analysis The paper addresses the topic of democratic and authoritarian political systems, and answers the question: does a democratic system guarantee people’s will?
• All In: The Fight for Democracy Documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy is the 2020 documentary film. The film revolves around voter suppression in the United States. The central theme of the film is disenfranchisement.
• Foreign Direct Investments in Democratic Republic of Congo For a long time, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been considered a country unattractive for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
• Capitalism and Democracy: The Problem of Coexistence The paper examines whether the coexistence of capitalism and democracy provides mutual benefits or enforces detremial mechanisms that strain the relationship between these forces.
• Republican and Democratic Parties Comparison This paper compares and contrasts the Republican and Democratic parties, and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the two-party system.
• Walt Whitman as a Democratic Symbol Speaking of Whitman’s overall contribution to poetry, it may be safe to say that he was an innovator that would never be afraid of experimenting
• G. Bush and B. Obama: Tools of Democracy, Public Policies, and Practices The use of tools of democracy provide a lot of alternatives through which the government may effectively influence the behavior of individuals for the benefit of the entire public.
• Athenian Democracy: A History of Rise and Fall The 5th-4th centuries BC were a period of the flourishing of polises. There were some outstanding statesman who contributed to the democratization.
• Special Interest Groups as a Threat to Democracy Special interest groups are smaller communities within larger ones that promote specific interests attributed to their members.
• Democratic Theory Questions: “Missing and Murdered” This essay picks out four key issues that arise from reading the text by Laoucan-Massimo and Canoe titled, “Missing and Murdered: What it will take for Indigenous Women to Feel Safe”.
• Nutrition, Rules, Government, Religion, and Democracy It is essential to identify the ideas of nutrition, rules, government, religion, and democracy that changed people’s lives and analyze their influence.
• Liberal Democracy Opportunities for Middle Eastern Nations The current paper aims to discuss various challenges and opportunities for Middle Eastern nations to transition to liberal democracy.
• Democracy in the United States in the Digital Era The paper states that the digital era has created an environment in which false information can spread rapidly. This becomes a severe issue for democracy.
• Ethical Duties of Public Officials in a Democracy All public officials are bound to some ethical principles which dictate their conduct in their various responsibilities.
• American Democracy: The Formation of the United States The formation of the United States is linked to the replacement of the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.
• Astra Taylor’s “What Is Democracy?” Documentary Review Astra Taylor’s Documentary, What is Democracy? takes an in-depth look at the concept of democracy and its history, from its ancient Greek roots.
• Divergence Between Republicans and Democrats Throughout history, a whole established platform of divergence between Republicans and Democrats has narrowed.
• Republicans vs. Democrats on Separation of Church and State Most Republicans have a rather negative attitude towards separating it from the state. While many Democrats believe that faith should not interfere with any political processes.
• Problems of Democratic Consolidation in Developing Countries The paper argues developing countries pursuing economic and political heights should strive to consolidate democratic forces.
• Slavery and Democracy in the United States On the road to progress and enlightenment, virtually all races have resorted to such a terrible form of social development as slavery.
• Democrats and Republicans in the US Politics Democrats tend to be institutionalized mainly as the party of the economic elites. At the same time, Republicans represent working-class Americans.
• Negative Impact of Modern Democracy on Political Process In recent years, there has been a lot of work by economists looking for factors that could explain the bias and inconsistency of the political process.
• Negative Impact of Modern Democracy in the US The main cause of social imbalances in the United States is value conflict. This is a “seismic shift” in cultural stereotypes under the influence of new social phenomena.
• American Democrats’ Pro-Abortion Beliefs The US political system consists of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. The chosen news article elaborates more on the Federal Abortion ban from these two perspectives.
• Citizen Participation in a Representative Democracy Society’s quality of life is determined not only by the government’s influence but also by citizens’ interest in applying efforts to promote their well-being.
• Jacksonian Democracy: Who Benefitted? The Jacksonian democracy enhanced the freedom and equality of citizens in the United States, giving people more power and representation in social visions.
• Challenges to American Democracy Principles The surveillance of U.S. citizens by intelligence agencies is a fundamental departure from the principles of freedom and a serious blow to liberal principles.
• The US Democracy Promotion in the Middle East This essay informs about the reasons for promoting democratic values by the US in the Middle East, which intends to establish a close relationship between the countries.
• Japanese Political Power and Liberal Democratic Party Although there are many studies that dwell on the case of LDP and its success, the popularity and national devotion to the party remain rather vague.
• Globalization and Democratic Peace Theory In the context of globalization, it is necessary to consider the theory of democratic peace, which recognizes democracy as the best form of government for society.
• Utilitarianism Theory Applied to Western Democracy According to the theory of utilitarianism, there are ethical norms that must be followed. As a result, they overlook the other virtues that favor the few.
• Populism as Integral Part of Democracy Populism cannot be perceived as a grotesque distortion of representative democracy’s objectives and practices since populism’s aim is to serve the interests of the masses.
• Corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo While world economies are affected by a range of problems, some have remained entrenched in countries, impending national and regional growth.
• Democracy in America: Unperfect, But Still Prevails The article looks at the views of French historian Alexis de Tocqueville on democracy and its potential dangers.
• Expansion of Democracy in the United States before 1877 This paper discusses the rapid expansion of democracy for Americans before 1877 and explaines how government measures helped former slaves become citizens of the country.
• Democracy in Iran & Culture and Politics Although, to some observers, democracy may seem as the undoubtedly superior form of government, it is not universally present in the world.
• Democracy in the United States of America The paper states that democracy is a key factor in shaping the collective identity of US citizens as one nation rather than separate states.
• Republic and Democracy in the United States The original Constitution guarantees every American state the Republican form of government, which protects the established U.S. system from the tyranny of the majority.
• Poland: Democratic Nation vs. Communist Country Differences between people living in a democratic nation and a communist country are apparent by looking at Poland before and after communism.
• Media and Democracy in “By the People: Debating American Government 5e” “By the People: Debating American Government” is an introduction to the American government, and the 9th chapter focuses on media and democracy in the US.
• The Shays’ Rebellion: Democratic Movement The Shays’ Rebellion was the culmination of the democratic movement in the United States in the 18th century’s last quarter.
• The Democrats Attempt to Incorporate Immigration Issue in the Economic Bill Notably, the most recent development on immigration is that the Democrats presented a bill in an attempt to include immigrants who have not been accounted for in their economic bill.
• The Crisis of Democracy of the 1930s The Soviet Union played a key role during Hitler’s despotic reign in Germany. Notably, the union was at war with itself, which added to the possible aggression anticipated from Germany.
• Economic, Democracy, and the Distribution of Capital Ownership The article gives an overview of how capital ownership generally integrates with economic growth and democratic stability. It uses different economic theories.
• Will the New Communications Technologies Bring a New “Age of Democracy”? Communication technologies are an integral part of the realities of the modern age, where every aspect of human existence is directly impacted by digital forces.
• Economic Power of 2019 Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Movement In June 2019, there were protests in Hong Kong caused by the China government’s new plans to allow criminals’ extradition to Mainland China.
• The Ideology of Political Liberalism and True Democratic Ideal True democracy implies the political courage of individuals that are determined to fight for the ideals of freedom and justice for everyone during crisis times.
• Election in the United States in the Context of Democratic Values Evidently, the United States of America became one of the first nations in the world’s history, which were built upon the principles of democracy.
• Will the New Communication Technologies Bring a New Age of Democracy? The use of information technology will not turn society into a society of direct democracy, and it will remain representative.
• Beliefs of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans With his followers, Thomas Jefferson strongly viewed the United States as more of a sovereign entity bound with a common interest.
• Bureaucracy in a Democracy Bureaucracy is a considerable part of contemporary democratic society. Most organizations should be regulated by specific services to maintain uniformity because of their complexity.
• Confrontation Between Democrats and Republicans The confrontation between Democrats and Republicans significantly affects America’s domestic and foreign policy.
• Reconciling the Need for a Bureaucracy Versus All These Issues It Presents Against Democracy Although bureaucracy as a phenomenon has gained a rather negative coloring in the everyday use of the word, it is supposed to describe a neutral phenomenon.
• Representing Democracy: Reference to American Constitution Controversies surrounded the 2018 senate election in the state of Florida, which occasioned recounting of the votes cast.
• The Impact of the Locke’s Democratic Theory on the Contemporary Governance Locke’s ideas have influenced the development of the doctrine of the separation of powers, which is used around the world to create a balance of power within governments.
• Prison System for a Democratic Society This report is designed to transform the corrections department to form a system favorable for democracy, seek to address the needs of different groups of offenders.
• The Effects of Hate Crime Law on Democracy The hate crime law effectively protects people from different social groups and their freedom in spite of its potential risk to an individual’s right to express himself.
• Democracy in America: Decision-Making It can be argued that politics in America are not genuinely democratic. The current approaches to decision-making do not account for the opinion of the citizens
• Democracy in the American Government The American political system is regarded to be a representative democracy. The system is democratic due to regular elections and equal opportunities for civic participation.
• The Health of American Democracy In this article, the author assesses the health of American democracy based on the political participation and political knowledge of ordinary Americans.
• Representing a Democracy in Miami, Florida This paper analyzes three members of Congress from Miami, Florida by looking at their demographic profile, support base, policy issues of interest, and ideologies.
• Principles and Literature Materials on Democracy and Governance There are numerous literature publications on democracy and governance whose main objective is to promote democracy and good governance.
• Key Principles and Processes of Democracy and Their Influences on Public Policies Democratic principles are very vital during a public policy formulation, this is because democracy is becoming the most preferred form of government around the world.
• The Concepts of Contemporary Democratic Governance and the Separation of Powers The federalism and the doctrine of the separation of powers are very important in terms of establishing democratic forms of governance.
• Is the USA a Democracy? American Politics Although the United States of America prides itself on being the first democratic country, an opinion that the US is not a democracy has been gaining more traction in recent years.
• The Issues of Democracy in Australia and the USA The democratic governance in both Australia and the USA has similarities and differences, it is also important that technology impacts different policy and governance areas.
• The Clayton County Library System: The Effectiveness of Workplace Democracy Diversity in the workplace helps in promoting democratic principles in several ways, for example, ensuring diversity in the workplace fosters the spirit of participation.
• Differences Between Presidential and Parliamentary Types of Democracy Using the American, British and Indian systems of democracies the essay explains the differences in the election process between the presidential and parliamentary governments.
• Digital Communication Systems and Its Impact on Democracy The contribution, which new media can make in the development of democracy, depends on the efforts of government and media groups to the large extent.
• Capitalism and Socialism, Democracy This kind of system is illustrated by having recognized equality rights and freedom both in a social setting and political locale.
• The Democrat and the Dictator: Roosevelt’s and Hitler’s Speech The common ground for both Roosevelt and Hitler could be found in the fact that both of the leaders were reproaching the governmental leadership that existed at that time.
• E-Consultation: Enabling Democracy Between Elections Increasing public involvement in political issues is a major issue in democracy. Most countries in the world are democratic.
• Concepts of Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, Democracy Both authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are derived from an autocratic ideology, the doctrine that the government is resided in the hands of one individual or a group.
• Democracy: Principles and Critiques Having stemmed from the democratic principles, the ideas of diversity call for the promotion of tolerance and mutual respect.
• Concept of Democracy in the Black Community The issue of sports and racism centers on the communal and biased implication associated with the issue of black athletic supremacy or the overall view of such presumed supremacy.
• “The Transparency of Democracy” Research by Friedman The research “The Transparency of Democracy” by Friedman used the ideas founded in Lefebvre’s invention of space to evaluate the powers involving cultural and spatial formation.
• Social Justice to Maintain Democracy in Australia This essay will look into the impact of social justice concepts in maintaining democracy in Australian society.
• How Democracy Was Born? Since ancient times, democracy has been considered a favorable way of ruling which permits freedom and participation in state of affairs by all citizens.
• Ethnic Parties and Democratic Stability in Divided Societies Many professional on divided societies and governmental designing generally declare that serious society divisions create a major predicament for democracy.
• Democracy and de Facto Powers The main objective is to examine the challenges and results in order to make “more changes to become a full-fledged democracy”.
• Ethical Issues of American Democracy The American democracy is experiencing metamorphosis, and on the ethical perspective, some issues are emerging.
• Is the Labour Party Neo-Liberal or Social Democratic? The basis of the party is solely social democratic, and, in spite of the fact that some instances of liberalism could be traced in the principles of the party.
• Parliamentary and Presidential Democracy Discussion At the beginning of the 21st century, parliamentary and presidential democracies are the main forms of power in the world.
• The Effects of Leftist Movement on Democracy in Latin America The paper is about the relationship between the adoption of neo-liberal policies and the social impact of economic development in geographically adjacent Latin American countries.
• Democratic Capitalism and Morality in America The problem of the level of the salary in the modern world remains core in economics in the condition of the free market.
• America Transformed Timelines and Democracy Growth This paper discusses America’s transformed timeline highlighting the changes in political parties and the significant events that marked the growth of democracy.
• Challenges of Democracy Promotion in the United States The challenges of democracy in the United States center on promotion of democracy in all the government systems and departments.
• “The Role of the United Nations Development Programme in Post-conflict Peace-Building”: Article Analysis Endorsement of democratic values and supporting policies of good governance have become trademark characteristics of the UN in the approaches adopted to deal with issues.
• Republican and Democratic Parties Major Differences Many political ideologies exist in the U.S. ranging from far right-wing conservatism to far-leftist philosophy. Two major parties are Republican and Democratic.
• Democracy in Islamic World The urgent problem of modern society nowadays is the state of democracy in Islamic countries that claims attention of politicians and common people all around the world.
• Democratic Capitalism and Individual Liberty Democratic capitalism is the economic and political system based on individuals’ potentials in an environment of cooperation and trust.
• The Feasibility of Transforming Iraq into a Democratic Nation The essay explains the dynamics of ethnic composition of Iraq and how the cultural characteristics of Mideast societies make it difficult for them to adopt Western concepts.
• Leo Strauss and Friedrich Hayek on Democracy The analysis of the two philosophers, Leo Strauss and Friedrich August von Hayek and their beliefs and views on democracy has a common theme, which is described in the article.
• Liberal Democracy and the Problem of Political Organization Liberal democracy cannot be the final solution to the political organization as it is limited by the Constitution and strict laws and regulations within the state.
• Leadership and Democratic Action: Leadership Ability Analysis Analysis of the leadership style of leaders: Martin Luther King, Wayne Gretzky, Nelson Mandela, Adolf Hitler, Margaret Thatcher, and the consequences of their approach to leadership.
• Gender Inequality in Democratic Welfare States This paper is claimed to evaluate the strategies of Liberal and Social Democratic political forces aimed at the alleviation of gender inequalities.
• How Far Did General Chun Doo Hwan Prevent a Democratic Development in South Korea During the Late 1980s to Early 1990s? The paper examines the lengths to which the general went to ensure that his military rule continued and also examines how he subverted the democratic process.
• Dominican Republic Developing a Democracy The author presents the facts from the history of the Dominican Republic, the barriers to building democracy in the country, and solutions in this way.
• Illiberal Democracy in Hungary and Turkey Today in Hungary and Turkey one can observe the process of establishment of the so-called illiberal democracy, although with different roots and manifestations.
• Political Environment: Democrats and Republicans The contemporary American political environment has been impacted by the dichotomous role of two leading political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
• The Socratic Identification of Knowledge and Athenian Democracy It is clear that knowledge and wisdom are essential ingredients of life worth living because ignorance and the lack of understanding make life similar to animals.
• Russian Federation: Developing a Democracy As one of the advanced developing countries, Russian Federation also passes through the stage of democracy establishment.
• Russian Federation: Political History and Democracy The present paper will outline the key events in the political history of the Russian Federation and the barriers faced by the country in achieving democracy.
• Belarus: Developing a Democracy Belarus is one of the states that requires political changes to ensure that its citizens are given indefeasible rights to which they are entitled according to the basic principles of democracy.
• How Russian Federation Is Developing a Democracy Almost 30 years after, the modern political regime in Russia cannot be referred to as a democratic one, as its leader is represented by only one political party.
• How Lebanon Is Developing a Democracy Lebanon has quite a history of fighting for democratic values. The civil war that took place in 1975 and lasted for 15 years left a huge mark on citizens’ economic well-being.
• How Botswana Is Developing a Democracy To avoid the system of authoritarian rule, Botswana people will require reinforcing the influence of its Democratic Party and other political alliances.
• American Democracy and Landmark Supreme Court Cases This essay ponders the key values of American democracy and describes landmark Supreme Court cases that have contributed to the formation of the political system.
• The Birth of the United States’ Democracy This paper discusses the theme of American democracy to understand its origins, why it was important, and who was involved in the process starting from 1776.
• Creating an Ideal State with Democratic Government The ideal country will accept the model of constitutional democracy because the constitution will play a significant role in stabilization and help overcome the political crisis.
• Is the United States a Model Democracy? The US is a model democracy because it holds free, frequent, and inclusive elections, its citizens enjoy a wide range of individual freedoms and rights.
• Democracy Principles in the United States This essay will provide four reasons as to why the US was not built on the principles of democracy and has not genuinely complied with them to date.
• Democratization in El Salvador El Salvador’s residents were fed with a false notion of democracy under the thin veneer of which the authoritarian government promoted rightist ideas.
• American Foreign Policy Exporting Democracy
• Americans for Democratic Action
• Technologies and Equality for Democratic Society
• American Democrat and German Dictator in 1933
• Democratic Deficit in Global Governance
• Mass Culture and Democratization
• Pro-Democratic Political Position in the US
• Sexism, Democracy, and Modernization
• Contemporary Democratic Ideals and Christian Tradition
• Revolutionary Communism vs. Democratic Socialism
• Federalism, Consociational Democracy, Government
• Brazil’s Democracy and National Economic Performance
• Opioid Crisis Policy by Democrats and Republicans
• Democratic Views on Pro-Immigration
• South African Democracy and National Economic Performance
• The Concept of Democracy as a Historical Fiasco
• Dream Act as an Institution of American Democracy
• Democrats and Republicans in the New York State
• US Democracy and Its Media Representation
• Russian Democracy and Political Stability
• Wealth Inequality Effects on American Democracy
• Indian Democracy and National Economic Performance
• Jacksonian Democracy and Manifest Destiny
• Roosevelt and Hitler: Democrat and Dictator
• India and Brazil Democracy Analysis
• Pauli Murray’s Contribution to American Democracy
• Nigerian Democracy and National Economic Performance
• Natural Resources and Democracy in Political Economy
• The Arab Spring: New Patterns for Democracy
• The Concept of Democracy in Political Theory
• Democratic Communities and Third-Party Conflict Management
• “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville
• Political Sciences: Building Global Democracy
• Democracy in America Between 1780 and 1830
• How Wealth Inequality Affects Democracy in America?
• Political Culture: Failure of Democracy in Iraq
• Representative Democracy and Its Crisis in Europe
• Political Parties in the Democratic World
• Democracy and National Economic Performance in China
• Should Democracy Be Promoted in Africa?
• Are Free Elections Necessary to Have a Democracy?
• Are Pressure Groups Good for Democracy?
• Which Country Has the Best Democracy in the World?
• How Does Democracy Help the World?
• Can Democracy Remedy Africa’s Problem?
• How Many Countries Have Democracy?
• Does Democracy Ensure Freedom?
• In Which Counties There Is No Democracy?
• Does Democracy Produce Worse Government Than Dictatorship Produce?
• Why Democracy Is a Good Form of Government?
• Does Democracy Work for the Entire World?
• What Is the World’s Oldest Democracy?
• How Did Hindenburg Undermine German Democracy in 1925-33?
• What Is the Role of Citizens in a Democracy?
• How Effective Was Athenian Democracy?
• Why Is Democracy Considered Much Superior?
• How Far Had Britain Moved Towards a Full Democracy by 1928?
• Who Started Democracy in the World?
• What Are the Freedoms of Living in a Democracy?
• Is Indian Democracy Alive and Kicking?
• Why Democracy Is Better Than Its Alternatives?
• When Democracy Is Considered Successful?
• Should Poorer Countries Embrace Democracy?
• What Are the Two Most Important Ideals of Democracy?
• What Is the Most Basic Outcome of Democracy?
• Was the First World War a War for More Democracy?
• What Are the Unique Traits of Athenian Democracy?
• What Are the Issues in Which Democracy Has Failed?
• What True Majority Democracy Is About?

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These essay examples and topics on Democracy were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 21, 2024 .

395 Democracy Essay Topics & Research Questions: Elections, American Democracy, and More

What is democracy? The word “democracy” has Greek roots. It combines two words: “demos,” which refers to people residing within a specific country, and “kratos,” which means power. Democracy ensures that all citizens have the same rights regardless of their background, race, religion, or sexual orientation. It also raises people’s sense of civic dignity.

In this article, we’ll explain how to write an essay on democracy and give some helpful tips. Keep reading to find out more.

• 🔝 Top Democracy Essay Topics

📝 Democracy Essay Prompts

• 💡 Democracy Research Questions
• ✍🏻 Democracy Essay Topics
• 🎤 Democracy Speech Topics
• ✅ Essay on Democracy: Outline

🔗 References

🔝 top 12 democracy essay topics.

• Democracy as public justification.
• Freedom and democratic authority.
• What are the main problems with democratic governance?
• The role of democracy in the modern world.
• The development of democracy.
• The influence of democracy on the young generation.
• The connection between human rights and democracy.
• What are the key features of democracy?
• The value of democracy.
• Democracy as collective self-rule.
• The demands of democratic participation.
• Limits to the authority of democracy.

Many students find writing a college essay on democracy to be a stressful task. For this reason, we’ve prepared some essay prompts and tips to help students improve their writing skills.

What Is Democracy: Essay Prompt

Democracy is a form of government that has played an essential role in reshaping societies from monarchical, imperial, and conquest-driven systems into ones founded on sovereignty and harmonious cohabitation principles. Here are some of the questions you can use for your essay:

• What is the definition of democracy?
• Why do we need democracy?
• Where did democracy initially come into existence?
• What distinguishes democracy from other forms of government?
• Why is education important for democracy?
• What is democracy’s primary flaw?
• What poses the most significant risk to democracy?

Disadvantages of Democracy: Essay Prompt

One disadvantage of democracy is that it can sometimes lead to slow decision-making due to the need for consensus and majority agreement. There’s also a risk of overlooking the interests of the minority. Finally, democratic systems can be susceptible to manipulation and misinformation, potentially leading to uninformed or misguided decisions by the electorate. In your essay, you may focus on the following aspects:

• The issue of corruption . A democratic leader is only in power for a limited time. As a result, there’s a tendency to make money through the use of authority.
• Unfair business . Political leaders advocate unfair commercial practices to get support for political campaigns.
• Misuse of media . Often, the media attempts to deceive the public to influence their voting behavior.

Democracy vs. Totalitarianism: Essay Prompt

Totalitarianism and democracy are opposing forms of government. Whereas democracy values equal rights and citizens’ participation in the government, in a totalitarian system, the leader’s word is the law, and the state has all the power. To compare totalitarianism and democracy in your essay, you may discuss these points:

• Origin of totalitarianism and democracy;
• Public opinion on these forms of governance;
• Law and discretion;
• Minority rights and their importance;
• Internal enemies of totalitarianism and democracy.

Capitalism vs Democracy: Essay Prompt

Capitalism and democracy spread throughout the Western world during the 20th century. The fundamental distinction between the two concepts is that democracy is a form of government and a political system, while capitalism is an economic system.

In your essay, you can discuss the following questions:

• What is the connection between capitalism and democracy?
• What are the main goals and values of capitalism/democracy?
• What does capitalism/democracy mean today?
• What are the examples of capitalism/democracy?
• Why is capitalism /democracy harmful?

💡 Research Questions about Democracy

• How does a society’s education level impact the strength of its democratic institutions?
• What role does media freedom play in promoting democratic values?
• Relationship between economic development and political democratization.
• How does income inequality affect the functioning of democratic systems?
• What are the key factors that contribute to the stability of democratic governments?
• How does the level of political participation among citizens influence the quality of democracy?
• Researching the concept of democracy.
• What is the role of political parties in shaping democratic governance?
• How does the use of technology impact democratic processes and decision-making?
• Asian economic development and democratization.
• Does the presence of a strong judiciary contribute to the consolidation of democracy in a country?
• How does the level of trust among citizens affect democratic practices?
• What impact does gender equality have on the strength of democratic institutions?
• The equality of income or wealth depending on democracy.
• How does ethnic diversity influence the stability of democratic governments?
• What role do non-governmental organizations play in promoting democratic values?
• The democratic style of leadership.
• How does government transparency impact citizens’ trust in democratic institutions?
• How does the separation of powers principle contribute to democratic governance?
• What impact do direct democratic mechanisms, such as referendums, have on decision-making processes?
• How do political parties strengthen democracy?
• How does the presence of independent media impact the accountability of political leaders in a democracy?
• What is the role of civil society in ensuring the effectiveness of democratic governance?
• Martin Luther Jr. “Jail Letter” and Aung San Kyi’s democracy excerpt.
• How does the integration of minority communities impact the inclusiveness of democratic systems?
• Does the involvement of citizens in local governance contribute to stronger democratic practices?
• What role does the rule of law play in establishing a democratic society?
• What are the impacts of social media on democracy ?
• What factors contribute to the erosion of democratic norms and values?
• What impact do international agreements have on the promotion and consolidation of democracy?
• Democracy: pluralist theory and elite theory .
• How does the role of money in politics influence the democratic decision-making process?
• What impact do international human rights standards have on protecting citizens’ rights within a democracy?
• What role does decentralization play in promoting democratic governance?
• What is the impact of technology on democracy?
• How does the level of government accountability impact the overall functioning of a democracy?
• What is the relationship between economic development and the sustainability of democratic systems?
• Comparison of democracy levels in Uruguay and Venezuela.
• How does the level of political polarization impact the effectiveness of democratic governance?
• What role do regional and international organizations play in supporting the nascent democracies?
• How does the balance of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches influence democratic decision-making ?
• What are the key challenges faced by young democracies?
• What role does public opinion play in shaping democratic policies?
• Middle East democratization.
• How does the level of political corruption impact the functioning of democratic institutions?
• What impact does globalization have on the democratic governance of nation-states?
• What are the consequences of restrictions on freedom of expression in democratic societies?
• Social media regulation and future of democracy.
• What role do international democracy promotion programs play in supporting democratic transitions?
• How do different cultural and historical contexts shape the understanding and practice of democracy?
• Democracy and Western cultural values worldwide.
• What factors contribute to democratic backsliding in countries that have previously experienced democratic transitions?
• How does the presence of proportional representation contribute to inclusive and representative democratic governance?
• What role do civic education and political literacy play in a democracy?
• How does the level of social media usage impact the spread of disinformation and its effect on democratic processes?
• African political parties’ endeavour for the implementation of the democracy.
• How do citizen participation mechanisms, such as participatory budgeting, impact democratic decision-making?
• How does the level of political party system fragmentation impact the effectiveness of democratic governance?
• What role does the protection of minority rights play in establishing and sustaining democratic societies?
• How does the level of regional integration influence the democratic governance and decision-making of member states?
• The Australian Labor Party and the American Democrats: similarities and differences .
• What impact does income distribution have on citizens’ satisfaction with democratic systems?
• How does the presence of a strong civil service impact the capacity and efficiency of democratic governance?
• What factors contribute to successful democratic transitions in countries with a history of authoritarian rule?
• How does the level of trust in key democratic institutions impact overall democratic stability?
• What factors contribute to economic failure in democracies?
• What role does political leadership play in establishing and maintaining strong democratic systems?

Democracy and Elections Research Paper Topics

• The impact of voter ID laws on democratic participation.
• The influence of campaign finance spending on electoral outcomes.
• Political participation and voting as democracy features.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion during elections.
• The effectiveness of electoral college systems in representing the will of the people.
• The effectiveness of international election observation missions in ensuring electoral integrity.
• The impact of electronic voting systems on election integrity.
• The role of political advertising in shaping voter preferences.
• Low voter participation in democratic countries.
• The relationship between political polarization and voter turnout.
• The effectiveness of voter education programs in promoting informed decision-making.
• The effect of voter suppression tactics on democratic participation.
• The influence of party endorsement on candidate success in elections.
• The impact of gender and ethnicity on political representation in elected offices.
• Voting: democracy, freedom, and political agency.
• The effectiveness of campaign debates in informing voter choices.
• The influence of social factors and peer networks on political affiliation and voting behavior.
• The effect of negative campaigning on voter perceptions and candidate success.
• The role of non-traditional media sources in shaping public opinion during elections.
• The role of technology in enhancing election monitoring and ensuring transparent and secure voting processes.
• Electoral systems in a democratic country.
• The influence of disinformation campaigns on voter behavior and their implications for electoral integrity.
• The challenges and opportunities of implementing online voting systems for improving accessibility and election integrity.
• The impact of non-voters and their reasons for not participating in the democratic process.
• The impact of campaign advertising on voter behavior in democratic elections.
• The role of social media platforms in electoral outcomes in democratic societies.
• “The Electoral College Is the Greatest Threat to Our Democracy” by Bouie.
• Electoral reforms and their effects on voter turnout and representation in democracies.
• The influence of demographic factors and socioeconomic status on voting patterns in democratic elections.
• The challenges and opportunities of implementing electronic voting systems to enhance the integrity and efficiency of democratic elections.

E-Democracy Research Topics

• Digital divide and its implications for e-democracy.
• Role of social media in promoting online political engagement.
• E-government and democracy.
• Challenges and opportunities for e-petitions as a form of democratic expression.
• Cybersecurity challenges in ensuring secure and reliable e-voting systems.
• Role of e-democracy in improving representation and inclusivity in decision-making processes.
• Ethical considerations in the collection and use of personal data for e-democracy purposes.
• Use of blockchain technology in enhancing transparency and trustworthiness in e-democracy.
• The use of technology in promoting transparency and accountability in government.
• American e-government and public administration.
• Influences of online political advertising on voter behavior.
• The potential of online deliberative platforms in fostering inclusive public discourse.
• The role of online communities in mobilizing citizens for political action.
• Effects of online platforms on political campaign strategies and communication tactics.
• Use of technology in expanding access to information and knowledge for informed citizenship.
• Strategies for building trust in e-government.
• Evaluation of online political education programs and their impact on citizen engagement.
• Open government initiatives and their role in fostering e-democracy .
• Digital activism and its effectiveness in driving social and political change.
• Online tools for monitoring and preventing disinformation and fake news in political discourse.
• Role of digital identity verification in ensuring the integrity of e-democracy processes.
• Challenges and opportunities for e-democracy in authoritarian regimes.
• Public trust and perceived legitimacy of e-democracy systems and processes.

✍🏻 Topics for Essays about Democracy

Democracy argumentative essay topics.

• The role of public protests in strengthening democracy.
• The role of youth engagement in shaping the future of democracy.
• Is the Democratic Party the Labour Party of the US ?
• Should there be limits on freedom of speech in a democracy to prevent hate speech?
• The tensions between national security and civil liberties in a democratic context.
• Is direct democracy a more effective form of governance than representative democracy?
• The United States is not really a democracy.
• The significance of an independent judiciary in upholding democratic principles.
• The importance of a robust and unbiased public education system for a thriving democracy.
• Compulsory voting: is it compatible with democracy?
• The impact of income inequality on democratic participation and representation.
• The significance of constitutional reforms in addressing the challenges faced by democracies .
• Does the digital age pose a threat to the principles of democracy?
• Should prisoners have a right to vote in a democratic system?
• Are referendums effective tools for democratic decision-making?
• Democracy vs. other types of government .
• Does the media have a responsibility to promote democratic principles and accountability?
• Can a democratic government effectively balance national security and civil liberties?
• Should there be limitations on the freedom of peaceful assembly and protest in a democracy?
• Democracy is the tyranny of the majority over the minority.
• Is the rise of populist movements a threat to democratic values?
• Does globalization undermine national sovereignty and democratic decision-making?
• Democracy: Durbin’s, Duckworth’s, and Krishinamoorthi’s positions.
• Should judges be elected or appointed in a democratic system?
• Is a strong independent judiciary essential for a healthy democracy?
• Is the EU an example of a successful democratic regional integration project?
• How can we provide political representation for non-citizens in a democratic society?
• Is democracy a universal value, or should different cultures be allowed to adopt different governance models?
• Democracy in the US: is it real today?
• Should democratic governments prioritize economic growth or social welfare policies?
• Should there be restrictions on the power of political parties in a democracy?
• Is there a tension between individual rights and collective decision-making in a democratic society?
• The role of national identity and multiculturalism in shaping democratic societies.
• The effectiveness of citizen initiatives and participatory democracy.
• Federal system’s pros and cons from a democratic perspective.
• The importance of accountability and transparency in ensuring the functioning of democracy.
• Should religion play a role in political decision-making in a democracy?
• Does a two-party system hinder the development of democracy?
• The influence of corporate power on democratic decision-making processes.
• The tension between individual rights and collective needs in democratic societies.
• Has the US government become more of or less of a republic, a confederation, or a democracy?
• The role of education in fostering active and informed citizenry in a democracy.
• Is a multi-party system more conducive to a healthy and inclusive democracy?
• Should there be restrictions on political advertising to ensure fairness and transparency in democratic elections?
• Should corporations have the same rights as individuals in democratic legal systems?
• Is it necessary to separate church and state in a democratic society?
• How democratic was the new Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
• Should there be mandatory civics education to promote democratic values and participation?
• Should there be age restrictions on political officeholders in a democracy?
• Should digital voting be implemented to increase participation and transparency in elections?

American Democracy Essay Topics

• The historical development of American democracy: from the Founding Fathers to the present.
• The significance of the American Constitution and its amendments in ensuring democratic governance in the United States.
• Government: United States Constitution and democracy.
• The impact of the American Revolution on the birth of American democracy.
• The separation of powers and checks and balances in the US government.
• The significance of the Bill of Rights in protecting individual freedoms within American democracy.
• Democracy: the Unites States of America.
• The challenges and opportunities of citizen participation in American democratic processes.
• The contributions of influential figures such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton to the development of American democracy.
• Dahl’s “How Democratic Is the American Constitution?”
• The evolution of political parties in American democracy: from the Federalists and Anti-Federalists to the Democrats and Republicans.
• The role of the Constitution in establishing and safeguarding American democracy.
• The two-party system and democracy in the US.
• The impact of the Civil Rights Movement on expanding democratic rights and equality in America.
• The ways media influences public opinion and its impact on American democracy.
• The influence of money in American politics and its effects on democratic processes.
• American democracy v. the social democracy: the healthcare system.
• The impact of the women’s suffrage movement on democratic participation and gender equality.
• The role of activism and social movements in shaping American democracy .
• The influence of third-party candidates on American democracy and election outcomes.
• Advancing democracy in the United States.
• The challenges and reforms associated with the electoral college system in American democracy.
• The impact of the progressive movement on democratic governance and social welfare.
• Democracy and tyranny in the United States.
• The role of the American presidency in shaping and upholding democratic principles.
• The historical relationship between religious freedom and American democracy.
• The influence of the labor movement on workers’ rights and democratic policies.
• Analysis of democracy in the USA.
• The significance of the New Deal and Great Society programs in fostering economic fairness and democratic values.
• The impact of the Cold War on American democracy and the preservation of democratic ideals abroad.
• Democracy in the United States of America.
• The challenges and reforms associated with campaign finance regulations in American democracy.
• The impact of modern technology on American democracy, including social media, data privacy, and online political engagement.
• Democracy in America: elites, interest groups, and average citizens.
• The significance of presidential debates in shaping public opinion and democratic decision-making.
• The role of state and local governments in American democracy and their relationship with the federal government.
• The impact of the Electoral College on presidential elections and its implications for democratic representation.
• Interest groups in the American democratic system.
• The relationship between media bias and democratic discourse in American democracy.
• The impact of the populist movement, both historically and in contemporary politics, on American democracy.
• The role of the First Amendment in protecting and promoting free speech in American democracy.
• “What Republicans and Democrats Are Doing in the States Where They Have Total Power”: analysis.
• The influence of foreign policy decisions on American democracy and the balance between national security and democratic values.
• American women’s historical struggles and triumphs in achieving suffrage and fighting for equal rights in American democracy.
• The shifting nature of American democracy.
• The impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on public discourse, democratic activism, and policy change.
• The labor movement’s influence on workers’ rights, economic policies, and democratic representation.
• The US democracy’s promotion in the Middle East.
• The significance of federalism in the American democratic system and the balance of power between states and the federal government.
• The importance of a free and independent press in American democracy.
• Democratic traditions in early American colonies.
• The influence of religious groups on American politics, democratic decision-making, and social policy.
• The role of non-governmental organizations in promoting democratic values, human rights, and social justice in America.
• Edmund Morgan: the views of American democracy.
• The protection of minority rights and the principle of majority rule in American democracy.
• The role of civil society organizations in promoting and strengthening American democracy.

Jacksonian Democracy Essay Topics

• The main principles and goals of Jacksonian Democracy.
• The impact of Jacksonian Democracy on expanding voting and political participation.
• Andrew Jackson’s first inaugural address.
• The role of populism in shaping Jacksonian Democracy.
• The controversy surrounding Jackson’s Indian Removal policies.
• The influence of Jacksonian Democracy on the development of the two-party system.
• The impact of the “Kitchen Cabinet” and informal advisors on Jackson’s presidency.
• The economic policies of Jacksonian Democracy and its effect on the national economy.
• The antebellum capitalism and Jeffersonians and Jacksonians capitalist ideals.
• The expansion of land ownership and westward expansion under Jacksonian Democracy.
• The role of women in Jacksonian Democracy and the early suffrage movement.
• The controversy surrounding Jackson’s veto of the Bank of the United States.
• The impact of Jacksonian Democracy on Native American rights and sovereignty.
• The legacy of Jacksonian Democracy and its influence on subsequent political movements.
• The significance of the Democratic Party’s rise during the Jacksonian era.
• Andrew Jackson presidency: society, politics, veto.
• The impact of Jacksonian Democracy on the growth of economic opportunities for common people.
• The relationship between Jacksonian Democracy and the rise of American nationalism.
• The role of newspapers and media in promoting or opposing Jacksonian Democracy.
• The controversies surrounding Jackson’s removal of government deposits from the Bank of the United States.
• The response of marginalized groups, such as Native Americans and African Americans, to Jacksonian Democracy.
• The impact of Jacksonian Democracy on the development of the American presidency and executive power.
• The long-term effects of Jacksonian Democracy on American political and social identity.

Questions about Democracy for Essays

• What are the key principles and values of democracy?
• How does democracy promote individual freedoms and rights?
• “Democracy and Collective Identity in the EU and the USA”: article analysis.
• What are the different forms of democracy, and how do they vary?
• How does democracy ensure accountability and transparency in governance?
• Concepts of democracy and wealth.
• What is the role of elections in a democratic system?
• How does democracy promote political participation and citizen engagement?
• Discussion of democracy assignment.
• What are the main challenges to democracy in the modern world?
• How does democracy protect minority rights and prevent majority tyranny?
• What are the political concepts of democracy and nationalism?
• How does the media influence democratic processes and outcomes?
• What role do political parties play in a democratic system?
• What are representative democracy and its constituents?
• How does democracy address social and economic inequalities?
• What is the relationship between democracy and human rights ?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of direct democracy?
• How does democracy impact economic development and prosperity?
• Democracy description as a political system.
• What role does the judiciary play in a democratic system?
• How does democracy address issues of social justice and equality?
• What are the implications of globalization for democracy?
• Can democracy exist without a well-informed citizenry and a free press?
• Democratic and authoritarian states .
• How does democracy respond to extremist ideologies and populism?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of representative democracy?
• How does democracy promote peaceful transitions of power?
• How does democracy foster social cohesion and national unity?
• How does democracy ensure the protection of civil liberties?
• What is the nature and performance of Indonesia’s new democracy?
• How does democracy reconcile the tension between majority rule and minority rights?
• What are the roles of civil society and non-governmental organizations in a democracy?
• How does democracy deal with issues of environmental sustainability?
• Democracy: evolution of the political thought.
• What are the effects of money and lobbying on democratic processes?
• How does democracy guarantee freedom of speech and expression?
• What is the Canadian political culture and democracy?
• What is the impact of education and civic education on democracy?
• How does democracy address the challenges of pluralism and diversity?
• What are the implications of digital technologies for democracy?
• The French Revolution: failed democracy and Napoleon .
• What role does international cooperation play in fostering democracy?
• How does democracy address the power imbalance between different societal groups?
• What are the reasons for the failure of democracy in South America?
• What are the historical origins of democracy and its evolution over time?
• How does democracy protect the rights of marginalized and vulnerable populations?
• What are the political apathy and low voter turnout consequences in a democracy?
• How does democracy handle situations of crisis and emergency?
• Democracy as a socio-political phenomenon.
• What is the role of public opinion in democratic decision-making?
• How does democracy ensure fair representation and inclusivity ?
• What are the mechanisms in place to hold elected officials accountable in a democracy?

🎤 Topics about Democracy for Speeches

• The importance of democracy in safeguarding individual freedoms and human rights.
• The historical evolution of democracy: from ancient Athens to modern-day governance.
• The essential concepts and principles of democracy.
• Democratic revolutions and their impact on shaping the world.
• The role of citizen participation in a thriving democracy.
• Exploring the concept of direct democracy: can it work on a large scale?
• Backsliding of democracy: examples and preventive measures.
• The role of media in fostering accountability in a democracy.
• Striving for gender equality and women’s empowerment within democratic frameworks.
• Democracy and efforts to emphasize it.
• The influence of money and campaign finance on democratic processes.
• Democracy and social justice: addressing inequalities and discrimination.
• The impact of education in building a democratic society.
• The Republican and Democratic parties: issues, beliefs, and philosophy.
• Democracy and the environment: Promoting sustainable practices .
• The relation between democracy and economic development.
• Mexico’s globalization and democratization.
• The significance of a strong, independent judiciary in upholding the rule of law in a democracy.
• The potential benefits and drawbacks of digital technology on democracy.
• Youth engagement and the future of democracy.
• Democracy: equality of income and egalitarianism.
• Democracy in the face of political polarization and extremism.
• Democracy and cultural diversity : balancing majority rule and minority rights.
• Democratic society and the capitalist system.
• The importance of civic education in nurturing active and informed citizens.
• Democracy and peace: how democratic nations tend to avoid armed conflicts.
• The role of international organizations in promoting democracy worldwide.
• The struggle for democracy: bureaucracy.
• Social media and democracy: examining their impact on political discourse.
• Democracy and global governance: the need for collaborative decision-making.
• Democratization processes that have reshaped societies.
• The implications of demographic changes on democratic representation.
• The challenges of ensuring democracy in times of crisis and emergency.
• Democracy and immigration: the role of inclusive policies and integration.
• Corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The responsibility of democratic nations in addressing global challenges (e.g., climate change, pandemics).
• The effects of fake news and disinformation on democratic societies.
• Democrats and communists in 1950.
• Democratic reforms: lessons learned from successful transitions.
• The role of intellectuals and artists in promoting democratic values and ideals.
• Democracy and the future of work: navigating technological advancements and automation.
• Safeguard of democracy is education.
• The importance of strong civil society organizations to democracy.
• Democracy and national security: striking the balance between safety and civil liberties.
• Representing the democracy of Florida.
• The significance of a robust social welfare system in ensuring democratic stability.
• Democracy and accountability in the age of surveillance and privacy concerns .
• The future prospects of democracy: challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.
• Democratic regime and liberation movements.
• The role of transitional justice in post-authoritarian democracies.
• Democratic decision-making: weighing majority opinion against expert knowledge.
• The topic of democracy in various speeches.
• Democracy and educational policy: the need for equitable access to quality education.
• The influence of cultural, religious, and ideological diversity on democratic governance.
• Democracy and intergenerational justice: balancing present needs with future aspirations.
• Biden warns of US peril from Trump’s ‘dagger’ at democracy.

Democracy Debate Topics

• Is direct democracy a practical and effective form of governance?
• Should there be term limits for political officeholders in a democracy?
• Social democratic welfare state.
• Is compulsory voting necessary for a thriving democratic system?
• Is money in politics a threat to democratic integrity?
• Should there be limits on campaign spending in democratic elections?
• Social democracy vs. social policy.
• Should felons have the right to vote in a democracy?
• Can social media platforms ensure fair and unbiased political discourse in a democracy?
• Why does democracy work and why doesn’t it?
• Is proportional representation more democratic than a winner-takes-all electoral system?
• Should there be stricter regulations on political lobbying in a democracy?
• Is it necessary to establish a global democracy to tackle global challenges?
• Is the concept of majority rule compatible with protecting minority rights in a democracy?
• Is populism a threat or an asset to democracy?
• The struggle for democracy: how politics captures people’s interest?
• Should the voting age be lowered to increase youth participation in democracy?
• Should corporations have a say in democratic decision-making processes?
• Is a strong centralized government or decentralized governance better for democracy?
• Should the internet be regulated to protect its users from misinformation?
• Is democracy the best form of government ?
• Should religious institutions have a role in democratic governance?
• Is international intervention justified to promote democracy in authoritarian regimes ?
• Is a multi-party democracy more representative than a two-party system?
• Should immigration policies be determined through democratic processes?

✅ Outline for an Essay About Democracy

We’ve prepared a mini guide to help you structure your essay on democracy. You’ll also find some examples below.

Democracy Essay Introduction

Would you like to learn how to write a strong essay introduction? We are here for you! The introduction is the first paragraph of your essay, so it needs to provide context, capture the reader’s attention, and present the main topic or argument of an essay or paper. It also explains what readers can expect from the rest of the text. A good introduction should include:

• Hook . A hook is a compelling, attention-grabbing opening sentence designed to engage the reader’s interest and curiosity. It aims to draw the reader into the essay or paper by presenting an intriguing fact, anecdote, question, or statement related to the topic.
• Background information . Background information provides context and helps readers understand the subject matter before delving into the main discussion or argument.
• Thesis statement . It’s a sentence in the introduction part of the essay. A thesis statement introduces the paper’s main point, argument, or purpose, guiding and informing the reader about the essay’s focus and direction.

Hook : “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” ― Winston S. Churchill.

Thesis statement : Democracy has endured the test of time, and although other forms of governance have failed, democracy has stayed firm.

Essay on Democracy: Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs are critical in writing a great college essay. There are 5 main steps you can follow to write a compelling body paragraph:

• Create a topic sentence.
• Provide the evidence.
• Explain how the evidence relates to the main points.
• Explain why your arguments are relevant.
• Add transition to the following paragraph.

Topic sentence : In a democratic system of governance, supreme authority rests with the people and is exercised through a framework of representation, often involving regular, unrestricted elections.

Supporting evidence : Democracy allows residents to participate in creating laws and public policies by electing their leaders; consequently, voters should be educated to select the best candidate for the ruling government.

Essay about Democracy: Conclusion

The conclusion is the final part of an academic essay. It should restate the thesis statement and briefly summarize the key points. Refrain from including new ideas or adding information to the conclusion.

There are 3 crucial components to the conclusion:

• Rephrased thesis statement.
• Summary of main points.
• Thought-provoking or memorable closing statement.

Rephrased thesis statement : To conclude, democracy is a form of government that has proven its effectiveness and resilience in contrast to other governance systems.

We hope you’ve found our article interesting and learned some new information! If so, feel free to share it with your friends and leave a comment below.

• Thesis Statements – The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay, With Examples | Grammarly
• Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips – Purdue OWL® – Purdue University
• Paragraphs & Topic Sentences: Writing Guides: Writing Tutorial Services: Indiana University Bloomington
• How to Write a Topic Sentence (With Examples and Tips) | Indeed.com

414 Proposal Essay Topics for Projects, Research, & Proposal Arguments

371 fun argumentative essay topics for 2024.

423 Democracy Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best democracy topic ideas & essay examples, 🥇 most interesting democracy topics to write about, 👍 good essay topics on democracy, ✅ simple & easy democracy essay titles, 📌 democracy writing prompts, 🔍 good research topics about democracy, ❓ essay questions about democracy.

• Democracy as the Best Form of Government The implication of this is that all the citizens have an equal voice in the way a nation is governed. This atmosphere, in turn, perpetuates the general growth of a nation.
• Democracy Arguments For and Against Arguments against democracy are that it is not the best option for decision making, it encourages anarchy and hence lack of unity and that democracy encourages people who do not have sufficient political expertise to […]
• Michelle Obama American Dream Speech Analysis – Michelle’s purpose was to introduce her husband as man who was more concerned about the common citizens’ concerns and who was willing and able to help everyone to realize his/her American dream because he himself […]
• Democracy in the Philippines Our organizational policy we introduced in the Philippines is the same as the policies we introduced on other countries, i.e, we wanted to be a part in promoting tourism in the country by promoting the […]
• Social Media and Democracy For example, in 2009, during the Iran elections, citizens were able to comment on Facebooks and Youtube, and the whole world was able to follow the election proceedings.
• What Is the Relationship Between Capitalism and Democracy? The importance of the roles played by the stock market in the capitalistic economy is related considerably to the aspects of democracy and free market.
• Concept of Democratic Education Theory The learners have greater voice on what to learn and are involved in discussing the content and the structure of their curriculum.
• Leadership Styles: Democratic, Autocratic and Laissez-Faire According to McNichol and Hamer, the participative approach, compared to the other styles, enhances the productivity of employees for a prolonged period of time as it encourages cooperation and increases staff morale. As a democratic […]
• Similarities and Differences Between Communism and Democratic Socialism This is because, according to the proponents of both ideologies, in Capitalist countries, the majority of ordinary citizens are denied the right to have a fair share in the national wealth.
• Does Democracy Require Equality of Income or Wealth? While wealth equality as the presence of equivalent opportunities to exert political power appears to be the essential factor in establishing democracy, income equality as the opportunity to build wealth is also a factor.
• Democratic Governance Concept The United States proves to be a main player in the promotion of democratic governance in countries where conflict dictatorship and war is involved.
• Propaganda in the Democratic Society The article focuses on the effects of propaganda on the democracy. In the article, he focuses on his experiences in the media industry with respect to the past and the present news.
• Importance of News in Democracy The journalists are always on the lookout for areas of socio political and economic importance with the aim of reporting to the people in order to attract the required responses which may alter the sociopolitical […]
• The Democratic Peace Theory: Merits and Demerits Chioza et al.say that among the reasons that makes it possible to intertwine the democratic peace theory with the liberal theory is that many countries are in dire need of peace. There is a good […]
• Democracy and Dictatorship As a matter of fact, the paths above show some means that connect political and economic composition of a community to a political institution. The panorama of the existing democracy in this path is weak […]
• Jihad vs. Mcworld Article: How Globalization Hinders Democracy In the recent past, most economies in the world have been adopting strategies aimed at increasing democracy in all areas of the economy i.e.political, economic, social, etc.globalization is one of the factors that influence the […]
• Modernization and Its Correlation With Democracy The thesis statement In order to understand modernization-democracy link, the advantages and disadvantages concerning the issues’ interdependence, it is necessary to analyze the reasons of the processes of modernization and the ways they transformed democratic […]
• Descriptive Meaning of Democracy This term is however modified in meaning nowadays and it can be used in various applications; that is, it is used in a variety of ways depending on the time of use, the place where […]
• “American Democracy is Doomed” by Matthew Yglesias The author argues that the American constitution is ineffective in finding solutions to political disagreements that could lead to the collapse of the country’s political system.
• Elitism and Democracy Relations Essentially the crux of the theory emphasizes the influence and role of a small elite percentage of the total population of a country in holding immense power in running the affairs of that state irrespective […]
• Failed Democracy in Pakistan and Nigeria The occurrence of military coups in the past is something that explains why those in leadership positions have failed to implement powerful mechanisms to support democracy and meet the demands of the greatest number of […]
• The Taisho Democracy Period in Japanese History The dawn of the Taisho Democracy was marred with uncertainty because the previous emperor was one of the best that Japan has ever had.
• Is America a True Democracy? It is a fact that the United States was the first country in the world to have a democratic constitution. Electoral College The Electoral College is another process that puts democracy of the United States […]
• The UK Parliament and Democratic Legislature The critical point about the UK Parliament is the importance of tradition in its structure and functioning, affecting the selection process, the arrangement of power, and the communication between the members of the Parliament.
• Democratic Leadership Styles and Patient Outcomes Democratic leadership positively impacts patient outcomes as it influences nurses to participate in all processes of the organization and contribute to its development.
• Three Important Features of our Democracy The system of governance is accountable to the people meaning that the leaders have to be concerned about the rule of law and defense of the fundamental rights of their citizens.
• Socialism & Democracy: Fundamental Believes and Concepts The most distinct difference between the socialism and democracy is that in socialism we are mostly focusing our energies on the governance of the economic activities and the economic systems of a given country while […]
• Are Propositions, Recalls, and Referendums Democratic? According to this kind of leadership, a government is a social body retrieving its authority from the population and should always promote the will of the masses, especially the majority.
• How Social Media Could Threaten Democracy The next paragraph of this law will state that an organization must prove that it is based in the country to run a politically related ad on social media.
• Democracy, Political Power, and Public Policy Issues 1 Now, the question of balance between democracy and political power is as relevant as it was decades ago, being the center of the debate in the United States and the rest of the world.
• Democratic vs. Autocratic Leadership Styles Thus, one of the main advantages of the democratic model is that all individuals who are affected by a certain situation have an opportunity to outline their views and participate in decision-making.
• Democracy and Religion: Modern Theories The law reigns supreme, and it is considered to be the final judge if one of the citizens contravenes the rule of law. It is seen to lie in the teachings of a given religion.
• The National Curriculum for England and Wales From an Ideal Democratic Learning Society Perspective The National Curriculum of England and Wales is based on the ideology of “curriculum as prescription” as is evidence from the rigidity of the curriculum.
• Plato and Aristotle: Criticisms of Democracy To speak of it in our present time, there are only a few people who are given the power of ‘sound judgement about what is right and what is wrong’ and should have the power […]
• Becoming a Citizen in a Democratic Society The government has not helped the situation as it has denied the parents the opportunity to discipline the children by allowing children to report cases of punishment to the police.
• The Possibility of Democracy and Development Within the African State This infiltration of arms and weapons into the hands of civilians undermines development and democracy in the continent. This attempt to impose the whole concept of democracy, as it were, in America in a single […]
• Democracy: Definition, Types, Systems and Benefits Democracy is a type of governance where people participate in making laws and rules; “it is the political regime where people will become the law of the country”.
• Public Speaking in a Democracy Public speaking actually matters for a democracy, because it is a good and sometimes the only chance to save democracy that is eroding now, to improve communicative skills, and to underline the problems that prevent […]
• Leadership Styles: Democratic and Collective The difference between Democratic and Collective Participative styles, however, lies in the role of the leader in decision-making.
• Anti-Democratic Movement and Path of Democratization According to Lijphart, the Westminster model of democracy provides a throughout insight into the essence of democracy not only in the United Kingdom but in the rest of the world as well.
• What Is More Valuable in a Liberal Democracy: Positive or Negative Liberty? In the understanding of the concept of liberty, it is equally important to underscore the fact that it promotes freedom within a society.
• How Does Revolutionary Communism Compare With Democratic Socialism? Revolutionary communism holds it that the capitalism would never let go of their hold on community and political power and as such, only a violent revolution can result in the changes that communism calls for.
• A Dream Deferred and Democracy by Langston Hughes But if they over dry, they will become hard to chew and lose all the nutrition, This warns us of the consequences that may befall us if we sit there and wait for conditions to […]
• Democracy in Modern World All these events in the world history strengthened the thought that democracy is the only right and progressive form of authority in a state that will finally bring the overall population of the state to […]
• Democrats vs. Republicans: Who Is Superior? The differences between the democratic regimes and the republicans have been described using all sorts of criteria. Under democrats, the lower 20% of the population tends to match the income growth of the top 5%.
• Democracy and Freedom in Pakistan Pakistan lies in a region that has been a subject of worldwide attention and political tensions since 9/11. US influence in politics, foreign and internal policies of Pakistan has always been prominent.
• Citizenship Education and Democracy In simple terms, the role of educators is to teach children to be true citizens who can contribute to the evolvement of their countries.
• Community Engagement in Democracy Building The first form of community engagement is the effort made by public administrators aimed at encouraging communities to participate in social and political processes.
• To What Extent Is Burma Democracy? This paper, therefore, examines the extent of democracy in Burma with the reference to the political engagement of pro-democratic leaders, the Burma political system, political history, political instability, the influence of the military on the […]
• Can Judicial Review Be Reconciled With Democracy? The members of the Supreme Court refer to several different approaches to the functions of the government, the Court and the Constitution, their duties and obligations.
• “The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy” by Rodrik, D The book focuses on the globalization trends and the competing interests of nationalism and internationalism. This is one of the aspects of paradox that the author of this book is talking about.
• Capitalism, Democracy and the Treaty of Waitangi are Three Ways Through Which We in Aotearoa ‘Organise’ Ourselves The treaty gave the sovereignty of the New Zealand to Britain which was supposed to oversee the government and protection of the rights of the Maori people, especially to protect them from unfair land deals.
• Success of Democracy in US: Comparative Approach for Explaining Therefore, the present paper claims that the comparative approach can be used to explain the success of democracy in the United States and provides sufficient evidence to prove the point.
• Organizational Theory: Democratic Leadership Taylorism is based on the theory of scientific management and the idea that output is linked to payment. Moreover, the framework implies the presence of a string hierarchy, which can be damaging to the morale […]
• Types of Democracy Known to Modern Society In conclusion, some of the types of democracy are representative, participatory, and deliberative. Deliberative is a rather intriguing form of democracy, where people are randomly chosen to express views.
• Stock Market Performance During Republican and Democratic Presidencies To compare the stock market performance during Republican and Democratic presidencies, the stock market data for the S&P 500 index over the past few decades were computed.
• The Democrats and the Whigs of 1830-1840 The Jacksonian Democrats and the Wigs were interested in American society’s modernization and economic development. However, the parties had different views on achieving economic efficiency and prosperity and the role of government in the economy.
• Democratic Development in Colombia vs. Peru After a downturn in 2015 and a boom in 2009 due to the global financial crisis of 2008, the country’s economy is back on track as of 2016 and is riding the rising tide that […]
• Structures of Direct Democracy in California Others may argue that the proposition is a strength of direct democracy because it allows for the people’s will to be directly expressed and implemented.
• Emerging Democracy and Education in South Africa In the process of education reformation, the example of South Africa can be used to demonstrate the ability to shape the democratic mindset of the population by increasing the focus on critical thinking and civic […]
• American Democracy: Role of Anger The fact that the incident on January 6 was followed by a number of occasions where agents were seen engaged in sensitive operations makes it feasible to comprehend the explanation behind the public’s mistrust of […]
• Populism and Its Influence on Democracy Essentially, it explores the connections shared between Populism and authoritarianism and the potential democratic setbacks that might arise from the rise of authoritarian Populism.
• Women’s Rights: Democratic Perceptions Therefore, it is proper to claim that women would not be able to exercise their rights and freedoms as frequently without the efforts of Democrats.
• The Work “Republic” by Plato: Arguments for Democracy The primary argument that democracy is worse than timarchy and oligarchy derives directly from the text of Republic, where Socrates agrees that only tyranny is worse than democracy.
• Democracy: The Influence of Freedom Democracy is the basis of the political systems of the modern civilized world. Accordingly, the democracy of Athens was direct that is, without the choice of representatives, in contrast to how it is generated nowadays.
• The Article “Plato on Democracy and Expertise” by R. W. Sharples The central message permeating the writing is that the rigidity of truth on which the conceptual model of democracy is built is a problem since any system needs to acknowledge the malleability of the underlying […]
• Is a Secret Ballot a Basic Tenet of Democracy? The Supremacy Clause establishes that federal laws, constitutions, and regulations take precedence over state laws.”This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States…under the Authority of the United States, will be the supreme Law of […]
• Encouraging Voter Participation in Democratic Election Process The voting process should be concerned with high voter turnout rather than trust since losing legislatures is responsible for the lack of trust among voters in the entire process.
• Processes of Democratization in Spain, Portugal, and Greece Kornetis and Cavallaro claim that the processes of democratization resulted in the collapse of “the Francoist regime, the Salazar-Caetano regime of Estado Novo, and the Colonels’ military dictatorship in Greece “.
• Democracy and Its Crucial Features The equality of income and wealth remain the central issue of democracy, since, though democratic societies strive to egalitarianism, they fall short of ensuring equal income and wealth to everyone.
• Can the Democrats Win Back Rural Voters? The article used the Movement Lab approach to be able to win back the rural voters. The article relates to voting and election topic because it deals with voter turnout and strategies to be used […]
• Threat of Cyber Operations to Democracy and National Security Among its most important characteristics include the recognition of individual’s dignity, respect for equality, faith in the rule of the majority, and respect for the rights of the minority.
• Women’s Rights and the Advancement of Democracy The degree of citizen involvement in the political process, including the participation of various social groups in political parties and decision-making bodies, determines the quality of democracy in addition to the structure of current political […]
• Aspects of Democratic Regimes In the textbook, Dickovick and Eastwood, democratic regimes are described as ones where people individually and groups have the ability to voice and contest their ideas, as well as the opportunity to shape political life […]
• Characteristics of American Democracy Conversely, American democracy allows everyone and anybody to have the same opportunities regardless of the situation it is about, based on equal rights in the United States.
• Democrats Caught in Election-Year Gambit With Bloated Gas Prices These Midterms would be one of the most consequential in history as they will likely decide the political gridlock and demonstrate the voter confidence in the party that wins the majority.
• Abstracts for “Democracy: What’s It Good For?” and “The New Concert of Powers” The subject of the essay Democracy: What’s It Good For? is related to the issues of democracy in terms of its efficiency regarding the misinformation and irrationality of people’s choices.
• Corruption in Infrastructure of the Democratic Republic of Congo The mining companies are negatively affected by rampant corruption and a culture of everyday transactions, which has resulted in the misappropriation of public funds.
• Corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo This is a comprehensive report published by the IMF that examines in tremendous detail the corruption, policy, and frameworks of governance and corruption in the DRC.
• Struggles of Democracy: Social Insurance Programs There are always segments of people in the society who struggle more than the general population, and by taking measures, the government increases the economic growth and general well-being.
• Jackson Democracy: Transformation of American Conservatism Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States of America, his term of office lasted from 1829 to 1837.
• The Meaning of Liberal Democracy in the US The establishment of diplomatic relations with the USSR during Roosevelt’s presidency was an important event in the history of the two states and the entire history of the world.
• Democracy in Ancient Greece and Today From the lecture, I discovered that the word democracy partly originates from the word demes which means the small division of the bigger sections that Athens was divided into during the ancient time.
• The Diplock Courts and the Democratic Society The legal definition of the term is still ambiguous, but the best definition is considered to be the achievement of ideological, political, economic, or religious goals by violent means.
• “Korean Film: History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination” by Min et al. The key message of the article in question is that Korean film culture is complex and heterogeneous, but it has yet to receive at the time of writing the attention it deserves from the progressive […]
• Jury Service as an Essential Part of the Democracy A Jury Service is an integral part of the U.S.judicial branch, due to which people can make responsible decisions and understand that their opinion is essential to the state.
• Democracy, Republicanism, and Liberalism in 19th Century Mexico and Colombia They emphasized the role of Mexico and its republican, democratic, and liberal principles in those changes. They started to imitate the political principles in Europe and the U.
• The Democratic Radicals and Conservatives Struggle of American Government The roots of the American government can be traced back to the aftermath of the American civil war and the results of the American War of Independence.
• Zinn’s and Schweikart’s Beliefs on American Democracy Namely, Zinn’s personal assumptions concerning the problem of racism and colonialism as the cornerstone of inequality in the U.S.are represented clearly in the book.
• Trust and Democracy Overview It will create a status quo where the American model of democracy that has been recognized and revered in the world is no longer a democracy but merely an illusion of one.
• Racial Democracy in Brazil Racial democracy in Brazil is a phenomenon connected to the idea that racial differences encourage individuals to look for a broad identity that would include every population presented in the country.
• Democratic Republic of Congo’s Refugee Crisis The refugee crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one example of how refugees suffer because of poor healthcare access and the inability to provide for themselves.
• Plato’s Views on Democracy Plato’s point of view appeared to me as a more appealing out of the two presented opinions on the best course for a political regime within a country.
• How to Make People Who Support Democrats Believe in Aliens The ones who are convinced in their existence the way they trust the course of actions proposed by Democrats help overcome the threat for the stability of the government.
• “After War: The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy” by Coyne The reason for this is that the United States has used the excuse of protecting democracy when interfering in the internal affairs of different states.
• “Engendering Democracy in Brazil” by Sonia Alvarez In addition, the review integrates information acquired from essays by Barbara Nelson and Saint-Germain regarding gender equality and the electoral participation of women in democratic processes.
• Deliberative Democracy as an Improvement of Democratic Participation More specifically, the schools of a democratic system of most significant interest are deliberative democracy and democratic participation. At the same time, deliberative democracy realizes the political interest of every citizen in a thorough discussion.
• America’s Voting Democracy: Failing After All Even though the United States did not start as a democracy and it took hundreds of years to ensure voting rights for the general populations in its entirety, these are still not the grounds to […]
• Theories of Global Politics. Democracy Effectiveness In the classical theme of ancient Athenian society, it is the representation of the ‘will of the people’ and had to include the views of all citizens in the decision making matters.
• Democratic Rule and Educated Citizenry They may think it is simply a matter of taxing big business in order to get something for the whole town, when, in reality, the higher tax will result in lower needed investment in the […]
• In a Democratic Britain, the Monarchy Is an Anachronism The presence of the queen as the head of state instils a sense of responsibility and ethics among the political leaders.
• Russia’s Contemporary Political Regime not Democratic Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the Russian Federation on the 12th in June 1991. Some argue that the idea of politics as a mean for […]
• Robespierre From Democracy to Totalitarianism Consequently, as a result of the failure of the constitutional monarch and the foreign wars that threatened the French Jacobins, the Committee of Public Safety was constituted in part of the new Republic, on April […]
• The Internet is a Democratic Technology As opposed to what in the media channels of communication where the information let out to the public is filtered and influenced by what the government want the people to know, the Internet is free […]
• Democratic Principle: The Constitution of the US The two major democratic principles are closely interrelated and the parties involved into them can actually change places from time to time: the minority has the right to become the majority, thus the latter becomes […]
• International Political Economy, Democratization, and Terrorism IPE describes the global power dynamics that control international trade and finance, fuel globalization, and wealth distribution across the globe. Sachs argues that globalization and the emergence of political economics have led to the increased […]
• The New State of Israel: A Block to the Development of Democracy Since the infamous Palestine conflict is rooted deeply in political, cultural, social, and religious misconceptions between the Jewish and the Muslim residents of the area, the advocacy of the current Israeli strategy concerning the emphasis […]
• Internet Function and Potential in a Democratic Society This situation is comparable to the Medieval Age before the introduction of printing in the 1440s. The church and the courts monopolized books, and the population had no chance to learn an alternative opinion on […]
• Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City’ by Robert Dahl A political stratum is defined as a group of individuals who take an active position in the political life of the country.
• Democratic Presidential Nominees for 2020 American society is a complex concept with many determinants, and the election of the President in the country is one of the most significant events because it shows the achieved progress and preferred values.
• Truthful Information for Building a Democracy Democracy is defined as the rule of the people, by the people for the people. Greenberg and page argue that for a democratic government to be established, information is of the essence.
• Francis Fukuyama: Can Liberal Democracy Survive the Decline of the Middle Class? Then, the author shifts to explaining the importance of the existence of a strong and abundantly represented in the society middle class layer as it is a foundation for all the democratic values in the […]
• Democracy in Asia India and the Price of Peaceful Change In his last kick, Gandhi decided to encourage the Indians to make their own salt, which was the most taxed by the British government.
• Israel as the Jewish and Democratic State: Can It Be Possible? However, the historical evaluation of the situation in Israel and the development of the Israel-Palestinian conflict that led to the Israel war of independence in 1948 and continues today shows that it is not an […]
• Ancient Democracy: Review All of the Athenians were involved in the process of selecting the candidates for the positions of the Archons the advisors to the ruler of the city.
• The Democratic Presidential Debate The part of the debate concerning the immigration policies and the candidate’s views of them is highly representative of the overall rhetorical strategies in use.
• “Inequality, Democracy, and the Environment” by Downey Liam Downey examines in his work Inequality, democracy, and the environment, the nature of these problems and tries to explain the causes of their occurrence.
• Organizational Culture: Democratic Leadership Democratic leadership would be an effective approach to leading others in the workplace because members of a group are allowed to offer their ideas that are applied to solve problems.
• Differences Between the Democrats and Republicans The activin expression in a marrow stromal cells is however regulated by the incubation with the necrosis factor of the tumor and the interleukin 1 alpha.
• Democracy Emergence in Ancient Greece and Why Plato Was Opposed to It The result of this war was the defeat of Athens by Sparta at the end of the fifth century which led to the overthrow of many democratic regimes.
• Democracy: Forms, Requirements and Homosexuality Democracy exists in two major forms there is the liberal democracy which is a very capitalistic economic approach in nature while the other form is a socialist democracy that embraces economic aspects like subsidies and […]
• Democratic Governance and Policy Networks The contribution of each of these actors was valuable for improving the quality of legislation which became the result of the collaborative work of the interested parties.
• Rape as a Weapon of War: Democratic Republic of Congo While some researchers argue that the occurrence of wartime rape, with its frequency, savagery and systematic organization during these times, is inherently entwined with the nature of the conflicts, most of them emphasize that the […]
• A Government and Basic Democratic Requirements to It In pluralism, the people who make policies are the top government officials and they do not involve the public. The relevance of involvement in the implementation of government policies is not clear to the citizens.
• “Jihad Versus Mcworld” by Benjamen Barber: Tribalism and Globalism Threat to Democracy The forces of Jihad and the forces of McWorld are fighting for sovereignty and neither supports democracy. It is the decentralization of confederations that may save democracy, according to Barber.
• Parliamentary Democracy: Will of the People Representation The party with the majority votes is sought to be representing the will of the people. In The will of the people: Notes towards a dialectical voluntarism, Peter Hallward states that the will of the […]
• Terrorism and Liberal Democracy: What We Should Know When confronted with external coercion like global terrorism, democracies react like a pendulum by first of all providing security and then vacillating back in the direction of moderation, the quest of lenience, and the encouragement […]
• Greek and Hellenistic World and Democracy In addition to the above, the model of democracy in Greece was composed of the Assembly, the Council and the courts that were collectively referred to as the governing bodies.
• Is the Constitution Supportive of Today’s Democracy? Additionally, one of the dominant elements in most constitutions is the principle of democracy which refers to the government by the people for the people themselves.
• Benjamin’s Concept of Democracy Against Bennett’s Propositions on News and Democracy However, what seems good to many seems to work better and much more acceptable, from this point of view it is fair to reiterate Churchill’s pronouncement that, the present democracy is the best of all […]
• Asian Experience in Democratization As long as the authorities in some of the Asian countries are elected, democracies in these countries still lack the characteristics which can be associated with democracy in other parts of the world.”In other words, […]
• Democratic Transition in Asian Communities As long as the authorities in some Asian countries are elected, democracies in these countries still lack the characteristics which can be associated with democracy in other parts of the world.”In other words, if a […]
• The Sources of Leadership and Democracy in Britain Also, the powers of the British Government are derived from the appeal or iron authority of the British rulers to the party blocs rather than from the power of the influence of the leaders to […]
• Democratization Theories at the Present Political Map The world history witnessed a great number of changes in the political state of countries, in the form of ruling and the change as well as the form of power in every state existing nowadays.
• Human Rights and Global Democracy by Michael Goodhart Considering that the current human rights bodies focus mostly on rights of individuals, there is needs for translating the rights in a global context.
• Democracy Is the Best Form of Government for All the World’s Inhabitants The challenge to the leaders, therefore, is to provide good leadership and governance to reciprocate the good work of the voters.
• Democratic Empowerment via Village Elections During Imperial China The villager assembly oversees the progress of the VCs and ensures that the decisions they make are for the common good of the rest of the villagers.
• Deliberative Democracy Case Studies When the government fails to give the reasons for engaging in war, citizens have the right to question justification of the government for the war and the respect it gives the citizens.
• Study of Liberal Democracy In the true sense of liberal democracy, the government is chosen by the voters, and in this sense, the government should answer to the people.
• Torture and Democratic Society 1948, United Nations General Assembly, after the second world war adopted the Universal declaration on human rights, which prohibits the use of torture or any other form of inhuman or demeaning treatment or punishment In […]
• The State, Democracy and Globalization In order for people to understand the government there should be a system of communicating the state policies to the local individuals.
• Ideology of Race and the New Democratic Nation His main argument in this matter is that whilst racism did not at first lead the colonists in enslaving the blacks, the concept of the native hereditary inferiority on the component of Africans and African […]
• Ideology of the Democratic Party The Democratic Party of USA is the oldest political party in the world. Dilemma and destiny: the Democratic Party in America.
• Comparing Democracy Effort Between Mali and the USA Abraham Lincoln defined it as a government of the people, for the people and by the people. The main function of the judiciary in Mali is the protection and guard of human rights and freedoms.
• Venezuela: A Democracy Under Siege This essay will critically evaluate Venezuela in different aspects in the following order : democratic principles and the constitution, political systems, economic policies and institutions, the media, and civil societies to show how Chavez is […]
• A Critique on Deliberative Democracy The belief that the United States of America is a democratic country automatically create the assumption that it is a government by the people, for the people, and of the people as laid down by […]
• Will China Become Democratic in Near Future? China, being one of the countries yet truly to begin the process of democratization, stands on a point that future progress will be important not only for the people in China but also for the […]
• Relationship Between Democracy and Violence in Colombia The escalating violence in the 1980s has in fact, watered-down Colombia’s democratic governance mainly because of the country’s incapacity to tame the violence.
• Relationship Between Democracy and the State If leaders are not visionary and their ideas are not cohesive, the situation leads to the formation of splinter groups within the state, a condition that is unbefitting for the health of a democracy.
• Democracy in the Educational Process He gives us the understanding of the changing attitude to the democracy in the society. The public education was organized by the idea of “democratic community and equality”.
• American Culture of Liberty and Democracy Undoubtedly democracy is the government of the people, for the people, by the people.’ But it is also true that it is only a part of the people of which the government is, has raised, […]
• The Role of Education in Democracy Propaganda is in itself an aspect of education where the Public Information Committee provided some knowledge on the certain issues surrounding the war in order to win public support.
• Democracy Threats in Australia Governance as the rule of the people by the people has been more subjected to the teachings of democracy that have been adopted as a form of governance.
• Modern China – Is True Democracy Still a Dream? There is a dormant-volcano kind of “sub-terranean tensions” that seem to herald the beginning of the end for communism in China.
• The Battle Over Democracy Within Burma However, the military government in Burma remained controlling the political affairs and economy of the country which made the condition of the people to get worse.
• The Synergy Between Capitalism and Democracy Democracy and its success: Democracy refers to a political system in which the political part of the government is elected through adult suffrage.
• The Nature of Democracy in the Period 1871-1914 Moreover, the doctrine emphasized the essence of human rights, such as treatment of every citizen equally notwithstanding gender, race or class, the essence of the rule of law and the essence of having a government, […]
• Democratization of China: History The international relations scholars have been deeply directly responsible in assessing regularly the realm of experience and the international aspect of the democratization of China.
• American Imperialism and Democracy It comes with increased control as well as the subjection of the conquered to the rules and the demands of the conqueror.
• Democrats and Rebuplicans Political Campaigns
• Democracy: The Greatest Gift Enlighten-Ica Can Give
• Classical Political Thought. Democracy in Plato’s Republic
• Elements of Democracy and Constitutionalism
• Democracy: Under the Influence
• Aspect of Democracy in Seattle
• Democracy and Dictatorship in Ancient Greece and Today
• Haiti and Cape Verde Democracy: History and Philosophy
• Habermas’s Theory of Democracy
• The Level of Democracy in Singapore and Thailand
• Democratic Breakdown in Latin America
• Canada as a Liberal Capitalist Democracy
• Democracy Within the Realm of a Republic
• Urban Democracy and Capitalism
• Democratic Party in the US: History and Analysis
• Democratic Consolidation in Africa
• Public Opinion: The Image of Democracy by Lippmann
• Direct Democracy in Switzerland and Slovak Republic
• Donald Trump and American Democracy
• Enemies of American Democracy
• Democracy Development in the World up to 1500 CE
• Greek Legacy in a Contemporary Democratic State
• Republican Versus Democrat Political Beliefs
• Strangers in the US Democracy
• Is Democratization Leading to a More Secure World?
• American Democratic Political Model as an Innovation
• Federalists and Democrats in the 19th Century
• Athenian Democracy: Pay for Public Service
• “Terror and Democracy at the Age of Stalin” by Goldman
• Globalization and Democratization Effects on Libya
• Western Liberal and Democratic Values
• UNDP and USAID: Source Evaluation
• “Democracy and International Relations in Asia” by Acharya
• Democratic Society: Basic Values and Priorities
• Democratic Globalization and Its Benefits
• ‘Democrats, Republicans Agree on a Budget Deal’ by Silverleib and Cohen
• Comparative Democratization and Dictatorships
• Technology and Democratic Education
• Democracy Promotion and Humanitarian Intervention
• Media and Democracy: Free Press and Fake News
• Empire and Democracy Conflict by Thucydides
• Democracy: Perception and Application
• Democracy and Oligarchy: the Meaning of Equality
• Democracy in Sudan: Key Factors
• Earth Democracy: Beyond Dead Democracy and Killing Economies
• Democracy in Egypt: Key Factors
• Politics of the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Globalization Impact on Africa’s Democratization Process
• “Democracy for the Few” by Michael Parenti
• Democratic Deficit in the European Union
• Democracy Concerns and Exaggerated Challenges
• Kenya in Pre- and Post-Democracy Periods
• Constitutional Amendments to Expand Democracy
• 2012 Presidential Elections: Republicans vs. Democrats
• The Democratization of Japan
• Struggle for Democracy: President Interview
• The United States of America and Its Democracy
• Special Interest Groups Enhancing Democracy
• Okuma Shigenobu and Modern Democracy in Japan
• Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans in the US
• Ruling America: Wealth and Power in a Democracy
• The United States Promoting Democracy in Africa
• Libya: Challenges of Transitioning to Democracy
• Democratic Leadership, Value System, Followership
• Tunisian Transition to Democracy and Its Specificities
• Kuwait’s Democratization and Its Challenges
• Democratic Consolidation in Asia
• Leader Selection in Liberal Democratic Minimalism
• American Democracy’ History: Turner’s Thesis
• Teaching Standards, Democracy and World Learning
• Religious Fundamentalism’ and Democracy’ Comparison
• American Democracy and Equality Criticism
• Democracy in Chile: Evidence and Effects
• Founding Fathers as Democratic Reformers
• Egyptian Democracy and Citizens’ Readiness for It
• Why Japan Was Able to Build a Successful Democracy?
• Democratic Transitions: Weaknesses and Challenges
• Liberal Democracy: Marxist and Conservatism’ Approaches
• The Rise of American Democracy: Influences of the Constitution
• Democracy and Peaceful International Relations
• Democracy: Features and Impact on Peace
• American Democracy: Federal Government vs. States’ Rights
• The Taliban Insurgency: Democracy in Dangerous Places
• Human Development: Democratization and Economy’ Relations
• Democracy Promotion: Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism
• US Promotion of Democracy: Tools and Approaches
• Political Corruption as a Trigger of Democracy
• Democracy in the United States System
• Political Culture: Democracy and Civil Societies
• Democracy in Cambodia: Strategy and Recommendations
• Can Democracy Be Successfully Exported by Force?
• Youth Participation in Democracy: China
• Chinese Democratic Dictatorship Essence
• Sustainable Democracy in Developing Countries
• Democracy Versus Other Forms of Government
• The US’s Democracy Features
• Egypt Democratization Process
• Chinese Democracy in the Documentary “Please Vote for Mes”
• Democracy and Wealthy Americans Policy
• The History of Democracy in Libya
• The Development of America’s Democracy
• American Democracy and Society
• Democrats and Republicans Comparative Analysis
• Democracy and Religion in Turkey Government
• The Centripetal Theory of Democratic Governance
• Canadian Social Democracy Historical Evolution
• America’s Democracy History: Constitutional Perspectives
• China’s Democracy Movement
• Machiavelli’s Views on Democratization and Their Relation to Modern Politics
• Peace and Democracy: US Impact in the Middle East
• Outbreak Democratic Institutions
• Major Shifts in the Politics of Republican and Democratic Parties
• The Foundation of Democracy: Waiting for the King to Come
• Economic and Political Liberalism and Democracy
• Possibility of Attaining a Democracy in the Middle East
• Conflicts in Syria Present No Opportunity for Future Democratization
• Democracy and Global Peace
• Principles of Democratic Structuring
• Form of Political Ideology: Social Democracy
• Is Sectarianism an Obstacle to the Democratization of Iraq?
• Islam and Democracy in Egypt
• Copyright and Democratic Governance
• How Chinese Cultural Revolution Influenced Modern Democracy in China
• Should Democracy Be Adopted by All Nations?
• Liberal Democracy, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust
• Partial Democracy and Governance Assessment in Egypt
• Rohr and Rosenbloom on Democracy
• How Does Turkey’s Greater Democratization Influence the Handling of the Cyprus Dispute?
• Is Majority Rule Democratic?
• Danish Aid to Africa: Implication for Civil Society & Democracy
• What Is Democratic Consolidation?
• Democracy and Economic Growth: Asia-Pacific Region Experiences
• FDR’s New Deal: Democratic Platform
• Democratic Space Is Relevant in Early Childhood Education
• Taxes, Capitalism, and Democracy: Karl Marx vs. Plato
• Amu Chua: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability
• Democracy Measures in United Kingdom, France, Japan and China
• Democracy and Power in Online World
• Democracy and Custom in Samoa
• Brazil: Embracing Structural Changes to Consolidate Democracy
• Democracy Strategy for the Middle East Countries
• Democratic Racism in Canada
• The Liberal Position of Democrats and Republicans
• Social Construction of “Race” and “Racism” and Its Relationship to Democratic Racism in Canada
• Views of American Muslims on Democracy
• The Probability for Libya to Become a Democracy
• Ancient Greek Democracy That Still Makes People Strive for Perfection
• The Concept of Democracy by Force
• Democracy and Reform’s Trilemma
• Unitary Versus Adversary Democracy
• Rapid Growth as a Destabilizing Force to Effective Democracy
• Can Democracy Be Spread by Force?
• Democratization Process in Argentina
• Democratic Governments Role in the Global Economy
• The Main Impacts of the Civil War in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• What Is ‘Liberal Representative Democracy’ and Does the Model Provide an Appropriate Combination of Freedom and Equality?
• Transition to Democracy in Latin America
• Democracy in Canada
• Understanding Greek Culture’s Influence on Democratic Ideas
• The Complex Term of Democracy
• How Development Leads to Democracy
• The Relationship Between Democracy and Islam in Indonesia
• Democracy System of Government
• History of Athenian Democracy
• Democratic Influence on Public Policies
• Democratization and the Indigenous Languages of Mexico and Venezuela
• The Required Freedom and Democracy in Afghanistan
• The Need for Ethical Leadership and Governance in Democracy
• The Democratic Process in Canada: The Role Played by Political Parties
• China’s Democracy Perspective and Practice
• History of the Role of Democracy in the World
• Democracy in the Policy of United States of America
• Democracy’s Problems and Principles
• Was Kant Wrong to Argue that Democracy Brings Peace Between States?
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Democracy Playbook 2021: 10 Commitments for Advancing Democracy

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Susan corke , susan corke director, intelligence project - southern poverty law center @susancorke1 norman eisen , norman eisen senior fellow - the brookings institution, governance studies @normeisen jonathan katz , jonathan katz senior director - anti-corruption, democracy, and security (acds) @jondkatz andrew kenealy , andrew kenealy ph.d. student - duke university, former research analyst - the brookings institution, governance studies james lamond , james lamond director, democratic resilience program - the center for european policy analysis (cepa) @jdlamond alina polyakova , and alina polyakova president and ceo - center for european policy analysis @apolyakova torrey taussig torrey taussig former brookings expert @torrey_taussig.

December 6, 2021

• 20 min read

The following text is the executive summary from “Democracy Playbook 2021: 10 Commitments for Advancing Democracy.” Download the full report here .

This special edition of our Democracy Playbook updates our 2019 compendium of evidence-based democracy best practices with the research and developments of the eventful past two years. Most importantly, we here extract from that rich body of knowledge ten proposed pro-democracy commitments for consideration by participants in the upcoming first Summit for Democracy on December 9-10, 2021, and the subsequent year of action. We break down each of the ten commitments into a series of specific and measurable steps that all stakeholders can undertake to renew and strengthen democracy, fight democratic backsliding, and usher in an era of improved governance. After the Summit, we will update the Playbook again with the best of the learnings from that gathering for use as we build towards the 2022 follow-up event a year from now.

The inaugural Summit for Democracy, to be hosted by President Biden and his administration, is a historic moment for the world’s governments, citizens, civil society, independent media, the private sector, labor, and more to focus and coordinate on our most pressing domestic and global governance, human rights, and security challenges. The perils of inaction are profound given the accelerated gains of autocrats, adversaries, enablers, and others who repress persons and weaken liberal and nascent democracies, commit human rights abuses, and expand corrosive corruption. These actors deliberately polarize people, create damaging divisions, and hinder collective efforts to address profound global challenges, including the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change and COVID-19. We applaud the Biden administration’s leadership and its democracy agenda, which has bipartisan and international support and seeks solutions to reverse illiberal trends and promote pro-democracy forces, and rightfully refuses to hand off problems to the next generation.

To meet this moment—and advance a democratic renewal locally, nationally, and globally as called for by President Biden—will require effort. That effort includes greater collaboration and deeper commitment from allies, leaders, and key stakeholders at the December event and the implementation of democracy agenda deliverables beyond 2021. The year of action between the December 2021 summit and the 2022 in-person summit provides critical momentum and an extended time frame for governments and pro-democracy forces to make good on commitments, build resilience, reverse backsliding, focus on good governance, and improve the lives of citizens at home while bolstering democracy globally.

In advancing these goals—key to peace, prosperity, and security—elected leaders, civil society, independent media, private sector elements, and other key partners on the frontlines of democracy globally are already beginning preparation for the 2021 summit. They do so with high expectations that leaders will “make both individual and collective commitments to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.”

“Tipping the balance in favor of democracy, human rights, and a more just and equitable world will require unrelenting persistence and hard work.”

Hence this Democracy Playbook: Democracy Summit Edition updates the 2019 first edition of the Playbook. This revision focuses on specific commitments and actions that governments and political actors, civil society, businesses, labor groups, international organizations, and other stakeholders in democracy and human rights across the globe can make in connection with the Summit. These commitments are backed by an extensive review of the social science literature and the practical experience of the past three decades, demonstrating that these pro-democracy measures can work when implemented with leadership and commitment. That is, these are measures that can make democratic institutions work more effectively and transparently for citizens, bolster resiliency, and halt and reverse democratic backsliding where it occurs (which is almost everywhere). The commitments are rooted in the relevant evidence and history: What the scholarship and practice of democracy over the decades since the end of the Cold War teach us about what can, and what does not, drive democracy forward.

We hope that the wide range of stakeholders participating in the Summit will find the analysis and evidence herein useful as they design catered, context-specific, pro-democracy commitments and deliverables. These commitments are also made as touchpoints for debate and to create space, platforms, and opportunities for meaningful action and collaboration whether for local, state, or national officials, civil society activists, journalists, private sector leaders, or citizens.

Tipping the balance in favor of democracy, human rights, and a more just and equitable world will require unrelenting persistence and hard work. As President Biden has said , “No democracy is perfect, and no democracy is ever final. Every gain made, every barrier broken, is the result of determined, unceasing work.”

We turn now to the “10 Commitments” for global democratic renewal—the thematic clusters of actionable initiatives. These are our proposals for consideration by all of the various stakeholders as they formulate their deliverables for the Summit. They are framed to be measurable undertakings so that progress can be assessed at the 2022 follow-up Summit for Democracy.

COMMITMENT 1: Strengthen and Ensure Election Security, Integrity, Transparency, and Voting Access

A. Commitments for State and Other Actors:

• Commit to protecting and deterring undue internal (domestic) and external (international) interference in the stages of the election process (See p. 22).
• Invest in the people, administrative framework and election management bodies (EMBs), electoral jurisprudence, and systems required for the technological security, transparency, and accountability of election counting, voter registration, and political campaign networks. This should include infrastructure to protect against internal and external interference in elections (See p. 23).
• Commit to developing a proactive and comprehensive deterrence strategy—with responsible actors in clearly defined roles—that will appropriately punish nations, organizations, and individuals who interfere in the security of democratic elections (See p. 23).
• Commit to enacting policies and electoral processes that promote equality, universality, and transparency and protect broad access to the vote and election data (See p. 22).
• Commit to increasing transparency on the role of money in politics to restore or retain trust in the democratic system (See p. 25).
• Increase pre-election and election-day monitoring capacity, and, if electoral abuse has occurred, use the evidence as the basis for reform advocacy (See p. 36)
• Boost technical proficiency by partnering and collaborating with domestic and international organizations, including election observers, and involving them in the electoral process early (See p. 36)
• Make a commitment to contest acts of nondemocratic actors, within the bounds of democratic norms, who aim to sow distrust in elections. Opposition leaders may also choose to pursue more extreme institutional measures available to them such as investigations, impeachment processes, votes of no confidence, and recall referendums and/or deploy extra-institutional tools like protests, strikes, or boycotts (See p. 39)
• Commit to engaging new voters by presenting a positive and inclusive vision for the future (See p. 37)
• Commit to prepare for the use of diverse and varied nonviolent tactics to increase the pressure on government and attract more people to participate should there be an illegitimate election result (See p. 39).

B. Commitments for International Actors:

• Commit to observe elections together under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) or other international umbrellas to meet basic standards of universal access, equality, fairness, freedom, transparency, accountability, and privacy in voter submission (See p. 87).
• Commit to enhance and increase international electoral assistance, overall engagement, and technical support to enhance electoral processes, transparency, accountability, and legal and administrative frameworks (See p. 87).
• Large foundations, international donors, and other partners should commit to collaborate with local NGOs such that external support to well-established, well-known, and Westernized organizations is balanced with cooperation with local entities that may lack the capacities of more established organizations in national capitals. Donors, partners, and regional networks should prioritize helping local NGOs develop basic core organizational capacities, especially financial management and human resources management (See p. 68).

C. Commitments for Nonprofit and Civil Society Actors:

• Strengthen nonpartisan election monitoring and increase efforts to restore citizen trust and confidence in both the electoral process and the overall foundations of democracy, transparency, and accountability, including by engaging the broader public audience (See p. 36).
• Strengthen the capacities and training of domestic NGOs and other local actors to successfully engage with government, including the opposition, to bolster legislative, administrative, and judicial electoral frameworks (See p. 75).
• Enhance collaboration with independent media to counter disinformation and ensure citizens can access transparent and truthful information as part of electoral processes (See p. 80).
• Be prepared to use diverse and varied nonviolent tactics to increase the pressure on government and attract more people to participate (See p. 46).

COMMITMENT 2: Advance Rule of Law and Impartial Justice

A. Use all available levers—such as diplomatic pressure, economic incentives, and standing in international organizations—to respond to efforts to compromise rule of law or judicial independence wherever they arise (See p. 62).

B. Defend the independence of the judiciary by establishing public procedures for the selection and retention of judges. These procedures should be transparent and based on objective criteria relating to the exercise of judicial office and focused primarily on ability and experience (See p. 31).

C. Implement and maintain government ethics and transparency mechanisms to enhance citizen trust in, and access to, the operation of government under law. With respect to the judicial system, that means establishing codes of conduct, opening up courtrooms by producing publicly available transcripts of proceedings in a timely fashion, taking steps to ensure that sealed documents are minimized, and placing cameras in courtrooms (See p. 32).

D. Advance prosecutorial independence as well, assuring that prosecutors are independent and insulated from political interference (See p. 33).

COMMITMENT 3: Depoliticize Democratic Processes

A. Commitments for State Actors:

• Practice and model responsible political behavior. Political actors should uphold international laws and institutional obligations and use their political power with restraint. But when norms break down, further legal mechanisms should be considered (See p. 26).
• Political parties, through their capacity to influence coalitions and internal leadership roles, should limit leaders who espouse anti-democratic sentiment or positions or who evince a disregard for human rights (See p. 28). Such behavior includes: a. Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game, including democratic elections. b. Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents. c. Toleration or encouragement of violence. d. Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including civil society and the media.
• Prospective anti-democratic leaders tend to demonstrate these behaviors within the confines of existing laws and powers. Political parties and leadership should respond by committing to use all legal and discretionary tools at their disposal to identify and challenge aspiring politicians who meet one or more of the above criteria (See p. 29).

B. Commitments for Nonprofit and Civil Society Actors:

• Model the responsible behavior civil society groups wish to see among their elected leaders in terms of good governance structure, rhetoric, and public positions (See p. 44).
• Make commitments and carry out activities, including with targeted and increased support from domestic and international partners, to depolarize democracy, strengthen resiliency, and create space for common ground among political actors (See p. 46).

COMMITMENT 4: Enhance Democratic Safeguards on Technology

A. Commitments for State Actors and Political Opposition Groups:

• Commit to establishing a common democratic agenda for regulating private industries that have an impact on democratic discourse and processes through close cooperation on regulatory efforts around data protection, content moderation, and export control reform (See p. 25).
• Commit to develop a global code of conduct to prevent the proliferation of technologies used for repression, unlawful surveillance, and other human rights violations (See p. 25).
• Political opposition groups should increase election monitoring capacity and be prepared to use electoral abuse evidence as the basis for reform advocacy (See p. 36).

B. Commitments for the Private Sector and Businesses:

• Develop industry best practices that incorporate accountability and transparency on sensitive technologies such as surveillance software and facial recognition (See p. 57).
• Social media companies specifically should commit to: a. Prioritizing and supporting digital media literacy (See p. 58). b. Supporting narrowly tailored, targeted government regulations that do not infringe on users’ right to free speech—focusing on mechanisms like political advertising and reduction of disinformation prevalence measures (See p. 59). c. Intensifying cooperation with other platforms to share best practices (See p. 59). d. Establishing better information with independent researchers and universities (See p. 59).

COMMITMENT 5: Strengthen Civil Society and Independent Media

A. Commitments for International, Nonprofit and Civil Society and Other Actors:

• External actors, including international donors, NGOs, and government officials should forcefully respond to government attacks on NGOs and independent media. That includes issuing systematic, coordinated, and high-level responses to government authorities’ restrictions on NGO activities and the work of free media, while taking steps to avoid the perception that activities are solely externally driven (See p. 69).
• International donors and governments should provide assistance and vocally promote laws that safeguard NGOs, activists, and the press to help create an environment that is conducive to their activities, especially in more supportive environments (See p. 69).
• NGOs should train and be prepared to use diverse and varied nonviolent tactics to increase the pressure on government and attract more people to participate (See p. 46).

B. Commitments for Independent Media:

• Strengthen professional development, training, and education to provide a pipeline to up-and-coming media actors able to notice and resist threats to the industry (See pp. 49, 70).
• Create professional associations to enable and support individual journalists on issues like professional values, employment conditions, security, legal questions, and editorial standards (See p. 50).
• Practice media self-scrutiny and develop a robust media criticism community. Such a community could increase public trust, and thus public support, through the transparent and constructive questioning of the relationship between journalists, politicians, and advertisers (See p. 50).
• Assume responsibility for improving their own internal governance, develop mechanisms to deal fairly with audience complaints, and develop work contracts to cover all employees to prevent self-censorship (See p. 50).

C. Commitments for State and International Actors Specifically Regarding Independent Media:

• Pledge to expand significantly overall assistance, programs, and agencies to support a sustained and top-level commitment to back media freedom. This should include increasing support for investigative journalism critical to combating corruption and to holding governments accountable (See pp. 24, 70).
• International donors should commit to funding legal assistance and establish specific funds to help media outlets protect against excessive defamation lawsuits (See p. 80).
• Support independent media organizations and NGOs working to expose disinformation campaigns using targeted funding. When abuses of public resources take place, the EU, United States, and democratic actors globally should take immediate steps to publicly condemn such behavior while pressing for government leaders to be held publicly responsible for their repressive actions (See p. 80).
• Review democracy and media support programs to ensure more direct funding to local NGOs and independent media, focusing primarily on operational “core” support such as staff time, physical and cyber security, and direct costs rather than project-based outcomes (See p. 80).
• Focus support and promote greater engagement and collaboration between independent media and NGOs to enhance efforts to promote greater accountability and transparency and to fight kleptocracy (See pp. 68, 70).

COMMITMENT 6: Avoid Toxic “Otherization” Politics

A. Commitments for All Democratic Actors:

• Those on both sides of critical issues should create space in the public square for legitimate and respectful debate. For example, there is a legitimate debate over migration levels that is very different from tolerating the anti-migrant and often anti-Muslim rhetoric that frequently uses xenophobic language to exploit refugee and migration crises (See p. 28).
• While substantive debates on policy issues should be welcomed, democratic actors must try to limit the extent to which debates over toxic identity politics poison democracy, weaken the trust of citizens in democratic governance and institutions, and serve as fuel to empower extremists. This effort needs to be matched with a focus on local, rural, and urban-level integration—as well as a posture that eschews hateful rhetoric (See p. 28).
• Address structural racism. Extremism and support for white supremacy are an acknowledged threat within the military, law enforcement, and other parts of the government. There must be a full lifecycle approach—from recruitment through return to civilian life—to preventing and mitigating the scourge of white nationalist, extremist, and other anti-democratic ideologies that exhibit a disregard for basic human rights (See p. 44).

B. Commitments for Government:

• In urban municipalities, systems are needed to better address inequality and long-term social service needs of urban populations, including in middle- and high-income countries. Moreover, new city-focused responses must enable a wide range of actors—local authorities, business leaders, academics, philanthropists, and development agencies—to provide input on decisions that affect their communities. This same effort must also focus on the inclusion of communities in rural and economically impacted areas to strengthen democracies in these communities and promote economic opportunities and equality (See pp. 68, 73).
• Tailor efforts to rural and underserved areas that are highly susceptible to radicalization due to a systemic lack of access to NGO and government support systems, thus allowing for anti-democratic extremist actors to fill the gap in community needs while promoting anti-democratic sentiment (See p. 59).
• Provide additional funding towards preemptive measures to prevent radicalization (See pp. 59, 69).

C. Commitments for International, Private Sector, and Other Actors:

• Democracies should enhance coordination on migration and refugee crises, as well as increase humanitarian support for civil society organizations and municipalities that are working to house and assist refugees (See p. 88).
• Private sector actors should seek affirmative ways to help protect democracy, including through activism, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and helpful rhetoric (See p. 55).

COMMITMENT 7: Prioritize Anti-Corruption and Anti-Kleptocracy Initiatives

• Agree to regulate the role of money in politics to retain trust in the democratic system through the creation of such mechanisms as public financing of campaigns, disclosure requirements for donations, and limits on the amount of campaign donations (See p. 26).
• Agree to a common set of ethics and anti-corruption standards that surpass current international best practices. Set a timeline to implement standards (See p. 89).
• Pledge to adequately resource institutions and strengthen enforcement of laws and regulations designed to prevent money-laundering, other illicit finance, and corruption (See pp. 87, 89).
• Pledge that corruption-related financial crimes are not deprioritized relative to terrorism and narcotics (See p. 89).
• Promise to provide whistleblower protections and incentives, including in cross-border corruption cases (See p. 89).

B. Commitments for the Private Sector:

• Commit to resist any action that contributes to corruption, co-optation, or state capture (See p. 53).
• Corporations should pledge that their investment decisions are informed, principled, and sensitive to the country context, therefore avoiding providing a veneer of legitimacy to illiberal leaders (See p. 55).
• Pledge not to hire former government officials for positions that could contain a conflict of interest for a specific period of time following their service (See p. 56).

COMMITMENT 8: Demonstrate that Democracies Can Deliver a Better Standard of Living

A. Commit to policies of inclusive growth that tackle economic inequality and that improve well-being and opportunity across all demographic lines, including race, class, and geography (See p.44).

B. Such pro-growth policies for left-behind areas include extending broadband access, providing investment capital for new and small businesses, and using both transportation investment and regulatory policy to address rural-urban imbalances. Policies should address the unique needs of each area by elevating existing community assets and collaborations that bolster local economies (See p. 68).

C. Fix the problems that COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) has experienced, both to better address the COVID-19 vaccination distribution but also to prepare for the inevitable next pandemic (See p. 89).

D. Democratic states should collaborate to form a unified, coherent international effort that will be able to manage the large-scale ramifications of climate change including increases in natural disaster recovery, climate refugees, and infrastructure protection (See p. 89).

E. Democracies should more closely coordinate and collaborate on aid and investments in developing countries for greater coherence and impact. This could effectively limit authoritarian efforts to roll back democratic governance in developing countries and preserve democratic countries’ economic interests in developing markets (See p. 89).

COMMITMENT 9: Strengthen Democracy via Multilateral Institutions

• The transatlantic community should lead the way by recommitting to core democracy principles, conditionality, and obligations as well as in other multilateral organizations, such as the European Union, NATO, and OSCE, that promote democracy and human rights. Opposition parties play a central role in keeping democratic commitments on track. Social science research has shown they can persuade government parties to implement democratic reforms (See pp. 36, 87).
• Create a unified democratic opposition where possible or consider using referendums as an alternative, being mindful that referendums may not always be the best option and can often backfire (as with Brexit). The opposition’s formation of a coalition is the best predictor of a positive result in elections in competitive authoritarian regimes (See p. 36).
• Identify and confront authoritarians’ tactics to influence multilateral institutions from within by critically evaluating candidates for key roles, developing mechanisms to prevent unilateral blocking of human rights initiatives, and building a long-term strategy to ensure that multilateral institutions do not become an instrument for an anti-democratic agenda (See p. 87).
• Pledge to use conditionality more aggressively—both punitive and incentive-based—against backsliding democracies and malign actors, including efforts to combat corruption. To continue with the transatlantic example, the EU has powerful tools of conditionality that it can use to incentivize both member states and nonmember states, such as the exclusion or expulsion from EU programs. This should include cutting funding to the worst offenders (See p. 86).
• International organizations should pledge to invest in and expand capabilities for monitoring disinformation campaigns emanating from foreign actors (See p. 81).

COMMITMENT 10: Build and Deepen a Broad-Based Global Coalition of Democracies

A. Democracies should commit to increase coordination and cooperation with each other in defense of the key elements of the multilateral order, including strengthening standing local, regional, or global democratic institutions and frameworks or expanding or creating new mechanisms for advanced democratic collaboration (See p. 87).

B. The democracies of the world should recommit to working together within multilateral forums to advance common positions and to more effectively compete for leadership positions of international organizations (See p. 81).

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This report is a collaboration of Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution , the German Marshall Fund of the United States , the Center for European Policy Analysis , the Transatlantic Democracy Working Group , the FACT Coalition , and the Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption (LTRC) initiative. The authors wish to thank Daniel Berger and other donors for their generous support for this update of the original Democracy Playbook and to the BHP Foundation for their support of LTRC, a joint initiative of the Brookings Institution and Results for Development that informed some of the reflections regarding effective transparency, accountability, and participation approaches presented in this report.  The authors are also grateful to other individuals who were instrumental in its research, writing, and publication. Colby Galliher is a research analyst and project coordinator in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Madison Gee is, and Catherine Conrow was, a project and research assistant in Governance Studies at Brookings. Rachel Carroll Rivas is a senior research analyst lead at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project Department. Edison Forman, Alivia Kiefer, Cyndi Lai, and Taylor Redd were interns in the Governance Studies program at Brookings in Fall 2021. Elias Kaul, Ishita Krishan, Rakhi Kundra, and Luis Neuner were interns in the Governance Studies program at Brookings in Summer 2021. Each of these individuals provided indispensable research, editing, or other support. The authors would also like to thank Jessica Harris, Kelly Parsons, and Kevin Han at Brookings for their work on the production and promotion of this report. Brookings’s John Allen, Darrell West, and Courtney Dunakin supported this project in a myriad of ways and the authors are grateful.

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Overview: Politics-Related Topics

• Political theory and philosophy
• Comparative politics
• International relations
• Public administration
• Public policy
• Examples of politics-related dissertations

Topics & Ideas: Political Theory

• An analysis of the impact of feminism on political theory and the concept of citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030
• A comparative study of the political philosophies of Marxism and liberalism and their influence on modern politics
• An examination of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility in political philosophy
• A study of the impact of race and ethnicity on French political philosophy and the concept of justice
• An exploration of the role of religion in political theory and its impact on secular democracy in the Middle East
• A Review of Social contract theory, comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
• A study of the concept of the common good in political philosophy and its relevance to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe
• An examination of the relationship between political power and the rule of law in developing African countries
• A study of the impact of postmodernism on political theory and the concept of truth, a case study of the US
• An exploration of the role of virtue in political philosophy and its impact on the assessment of moral character in political leaders

Topics & Ideas: Comparative Politics

• A comparative study of different models of federalism and their impact on democratic governance: A case Study of South American federalist states
• The impact of ethnic and religious diversity on political stability and democracy in developing countries, a review of literature from Africa
• An analysis of the role of civil society in promoting democratic change in autocratic regimes: A case study in Sweden
• A comparative examination of the impact of globalization on political institutions and processes in South America and Africa.
• A study of the factors that contribute to successful democratization in authoritarian regimes, a review of the role of Elite-driven democratization
• A comparison of the political and economic systems of China and India and their impact on social development
• The impact of corruption on political institutions and democracy in South East Asia, a critical review
• A comparative examination of the impact of majoritarian representation (winner-take-all) vs proportional representation on political representation and governance
• An exploration of Multi-party systems in democratic countries and their impact on minority representation and policy-making.
• A study of the factors that contribute to successful decentralization and regional autonomy, a case study of Spain

Topics & Ideas: International Relations

• A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of diplomacy and military force in resolving international conflicts in Central Africa.
• The impact of globalization on the sovereignty of nation-states and the changing nature of international politics, a review of the role of Multinational Corporations
• An examination of the role of international aid organizations in promoting peace, security, and development in the Middle East.
• A study of the impact of economic interdependence on the likelihood of conflict in international relations: A critical review of weaponized interdependence
• A comparative analysis of the foreign policies of the EU and the US and their impact on international stability in Africa
• An exploration of the relationship between international human rights and national sovereignty during the Covid 19 pandemic
• A study of the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)s in international politics and their impact on state behaviour
• A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of international regimes in addressing global challenges such as climate change, arms control, and terrorism in Brazil
• An examination of the impact of the rise of BRICS on the international system and global governance
• A study of the role of ideology in shaping the foreign policies of states and the dynamics of international relations in the US

Tops & Ideas: Public Administration

• An analysis of the impact of digital technology on public administration and the delivery of public services in Estonia
• A review of models of public-private partnerships and their impact on the delivery of public services in Ghana
• An examination of the role of civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability of public administration in Papua New Guinea
• A study of the impact of environmentalism as a political ideology on public administration and policy implementation in Germany
• An exploration of the relationship between public administration and citizen engagement in the policy-making process, an exploration of gender identity concerns in schools
• A comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, decentralisation and pay and employment reform in developing countries
• A study of the role of collaborative leadership in public administration and its impact on organizational performance
• A systematic review of the challenges and opportunities related to diversity and inclusion in police services
• A study of the impact of corrupt public administration on economic development and regional growth in Eastern Europe
• An exploration of the relationship between public administration and civil rights and liberties, including issues related to privacy and surveillance, a case study in South Korea

Topics & Ideas: Public Policy

• An analysis of the impacts of public policy on income inequality and poverty reduction in South Sudan
• A comparative study of the effectiveness of legal and regulatory, economic and financial, and social and cultural instruments for addressing climate change in South Korea
• An examination of the role of interest groups in shaping public policy and the policy-making process regarding land-use claims
• A study of the impact of globalization on the development of public policies and programs for mitigating climate change in Singapore
• An exploration of the relationship between public policy and social justice in tertiary education in the UAE
• A comparative analysis of the impact of health policies for the management of diabetes on access to healthcare and health outcomes in developing countries
• Exploring the role of evidence-based policymaking in the design and implementation of public policies for the management of invasive invertebrates in Australia
• An examination of the challenges and opportunities of implementing educational dietary public policies in developing multicultural countries
• A study of the impact of public policies on urbanization and urban development in rural Indonesia
• An exploration of the role of media and public opinion in shaping public policy and the policy-making process in the transport industry of Malaysia

Examples: Politics Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a politics-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various politics-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• We, the Righteous Few: Immoral Actions of Fellow Partisans are Judged as Less Possible (Varnam, 2020)
• Civilizing the State: Civil Society and the Politics of Primary Public Health Care Provision in Urban Brazil (Gibson, 2012)
• Political regimes and minority language policies: evidence from Taiwan and southeast Asia (Wu, 2021)
• The Feminist Third Wave: Social Reproduction, Feminism as Class Struggle, and Contemporary Women’s Movements (Angulo, 2019)
• The Politics of Immigration under Authoritarianism (Joo, 2019)
• The politics of digital platforms: Sour Dictionary, activist subjectivities, and contemporary cultures of resistance (Okten, 2019)
• Vote choice and support for diverse candidates on the Boston City Council At-Large (Dolcimascolo, 2022)
• The city agenda: local governance and national influence in the policy agenda, 1900-2020 (Shannon, 2022)
• Turf wars: who supported measures to criminalize homelessness in Austin, Texas? (Bompiedi, 2021)
• Do BITs Cause Opposition Between Investor Rights and Environmental Protection? (Xiong, 2022)
• Revealed corruption and electoral accountability in Brazil: How politicians anticipate voting behavior (Diaz, 2021)
• Intersectional Solidarity: The Political Consequences of a Consciousness of Race, Gender and Sexuality (Crowder, 2020)
• The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives (Munoz, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. In other words, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

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If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your dissertation or research project, check out our Topic Kickstarter service below.

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1 Researching Deliberative Democracy: Methods and Approaches

• Published: October 2022
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Research on deliberative democracy has been flourishing over the past decades. We now know more about the conditions that enable or hinder inclusive and consequential deliberation, and how different actors, such as politicians, activists, and citizens, perceive and experience deliberative practices. Yet there are still many unknowns that drive research in deliberative democracy, especially as the field continues to develop in new directions and seeks to offer remedies for the problems democracies face today. This chapter unpacks what deliberative democracy research is, what it involves, and how we might go about conducting it. It discusses how the normative theory interacts with empirical research and how the deliberative ideals shape the practice and purpose of research. The chapter makes a case for methodological and epistemological diversity and outlines thirty-one different methods for theorizing, measuring, exploring, or applying deliberative democracy.

As the field of deliberative democracy continues to grow, methodological questions loom large: Which methods are a good fit for the study of deliberative democracy? How can we translate normative theory into empirical research? Can the methods used for the study of deliberation in small-scale settings be used to assess deliberation at the large scale?

This book aims to answer these and many other questions and showcase a variety of methods and approaches used in deliberative democracy research. We identify the strengths and limitations of each method and reflect on how different methods can be combined to generate a comprehensive and multidimensional account of deliberative democracy. As editors of this book, our goal is both ambitious and modest. It is ambitious insofar as we hope to provide a ‘go-to resource’ for anyone wishing to study deliberative democracy. It is modest insofar as we recognize that this book, or any book for that matter, can never be complete in its coverage of methods, especially in a dynamic and growing field of study. Nevertheless, we have put our best efforts into curating a volume that features both established and emerging methods for researching deliberative democracy.

There are more than thirty methods covered in this book, approaching the study of deliberative democracy from different angles and engaging with different kinds of research questions and agendas. Some methods zero in on specific characteristics of deliberative practices, while others address broader questions in the field. By bringing all these diverse methods together, the book aims to practice what deliberative democracy preaches: enabling reflection and advancing critical engagement across different perspectives. We hope that our readers receive this book as an invitation to reflect on, evaluate, and articulate their assumptions about what deliberative democracy is and how it can be studied. At the same time, we hope that it encourages them to engage across different methods and approaches and contribute to the development of deliberative democracy as an innovative, reflexive, and inclusive field of study.

We begin this chapter by providing a brief overview of deliberative democracy research and explaining how the normative theory interacts with empirical research in the field. This is followed by a discussion of how deliberative ideals shape the practice and purpose of research. We show how scholars from different disciplinary and methodological backgrounds go about researching deliberative democracy and outline the key approaches and methods they employ. The chapter concludes with an overview of thirty-one different methods included in this volume. We hope that upon reading this book, or parts of it, readers will feel inspired to undertake research on deliberative democracy and thus advance the capacity of the field to address the problems facing contemporary democracies.

Bridging Normative Theory and Empirical Research

Deliberative democracy is a political ideal where ‘people come together on the basis of equal status and mutual respect, to discuss the political issues they face, and, on the basis of those discussions, decide on the policies that will then affect their lives’ ( Bächtiger et al. 2019 , 2). It is a normative theory about how collective decisions ought to be made ( Habermas 1992 ), as well as a political project that advances practical ways of moving contemporary societies in a deliberative direction ( Curato et al. 2018 ). Over the past two decades, we have witnessed various practical applications of deliberative democracy, from the ‘wave’ of deliberative mini-publics around the world to social movements’ deliberative decision-making and authoritarian regimes using deliberative processes to listen to the people ( della Porta and Rucht 2013 ; He and Warren 2011 ; OECD 2020 ). The rise of deliberative practices in diverse settings and different countries offers a rich ground for researchers to conduct theoretical and empirical research on deliberative democracy, while also raising significant methodological questions.

One central methodological question in the field of deliberative democracy is how to bridge normative theory and empirical research. Normative theory is about the question of ‘what ought to be’, whereas empirical research focuses on ‘what is actually happening’. There were several key debates within the field, which sought to clarify the relationship between normative theory and empirical research ( Mutz 2008 ; Neblo 2005 ; Thompson 2008 ). While sceptics may view the normative nature of deliberative democracy as a sign of its inapplicability to an imperfect world, empirical researchers have shown various ways in which normative theory interacts with real-world politics, and how this interaction can further both theory and practice.

Some scholars use normative theory to develop hypotheses to be empirically tested (see, for example, Grönlund et al. 2010 ). They draw on deliberative ideals to create experimental settings to test the conditions required for successful deliberation and explore ways to improve deliberative quality. For example, they investigate whether the introduction of deliberative norms in like-minded discussions alleviates group polarization ( Strandberg et al. 2019 ). Others conduct experiments in ‘real-world’ settings with ‘real-world’ actors, such as elected officials. Drawing on deliberative ideals, Michael Neblo and his colleagues (2018) , for example, design deliberative town halls where citizens meet and interact over the Internet with their elected representatives. In these studies, the normative theory of deliberative democracy serves as a key starting point informing experimental design, and the hypotheses to be tested in the course of these experiments.

Other scholars use the normative ideals of deliberative democracy as a framework for interpreting or assessing the political dynamics in existing democracies (e.g. Fan 2020 ; Hendriks et al. 2020 ). Taking the ideal conditions for deliberation as their benchmark, they examine the deliberative quality of discussion in both small groups and the broader public sphere. They have, for example, investigated the large-scale processes of deliberation on various issues such as climate governance ( Stevenson and Dryzek 2014 ), LGBT equality ( Barvosa 2018 ), and animal rights ( Parry 2017 ). Meanwhile, some scholars take an inductive approach, and use empirical work to sharpen deliberative theory’s normative claims ( Doerr 2018 ; Curato 2019 ; Asenbaum, Chapter 5 in this volume) or use empirical research to bring deliberative democracy’s principles to life (e.g. Cunningham and Tamale, Chapter 30 in this volume).

These studies and many others show that normative theory and empirical research can be combined in ways that advance both. The field moves back and forth, between theory and empirics, resulting in their mutual enrichment. Empirical research can throw new light on the normative questions that deliberative democrats are grappling with. The insights gained from the close study of deliberative practices (in both real-life and experimental settings) help ‘in the process of identifying normative principles themselves’ ( Bächtiger 2019 , 657). Take, for example, Nicole Doerr’s (2018) ethnographic research on political translation. Doerr makes a case for the role of translators not as ‘neutral’ actors in a deliberative process but as disruptors, or the ‘third voice’ for marginalized participants to be heard and understood. In this regard, Doerr’s work challenges deliberative theory’s assumptions about the virtue of neutrality in facilitating deliberation, and instead emphasizes the need for challenging structures of inequality for deliberative goals to be realized.

This approach to empirical research and theoretical refinement speaks to John Dryzek’s call to use empirical research to refine the theory and make it ‘more sensitive to real-world constraints and opportunities’ ( Dryzek 2007 , 240). In this sense, theoretical ideals should not be viewed as fixed but as contingent points of orientation that, informed by empirical experience, adapt, mature, and change over time. Empirical research enables us to capture what has not been theorized before and hence produce new ideals and contribute to the development of what Simone Chambers calls ‘critical applied theories’ (Chambers, Chapter 2 in this volume).

Diversity of Research Methods

The development and refinement of deliberative ideals is driven by a variety of theoretical and empirical methods. The field draws on established methods such as survey research, field experiments, ethnography, or narrative analysis. At the same time, it also creates new methods of its own. The Discourse Quality Index (DQI) is one of the best-known methods specifically designed to operationalize norms of deliberation as conceptualized by Habermas’s normative theory. It originally sought to provide a tool for the measurement and comparison of the deliberativeness of parliamentary debates ( Bächtiger et al. 2005 ; Steiner et al. 2004 ), although it has also been applied to assess the quality of deliberative mini-publics amongst lay citizens ( Himmelroos 2017 ). Other specific methods developed in the field include the Deliberative Reason Index (Niemeyer and Veri, Chapter 7 in this volume), the Listening Quality Index (Scudder, Chapter 8 in this volume), and the Online Deliberative Matrix (Kies, Chapter 10 in this volume). These methods point to the relevance of constant innovation in deliberative democracy research.

The scholarship on deliberative democracy is built on a diverse epistemic community. This diversity is reflected in the methods included in this book. Scholars from various research traditions, disciplinary backgrounds, and geographic expertise present the methods they use while researching deliberative democracy. These include the methods used not only by empirically oriented scholars, but also those adopted by political theorists. While questions of methods are often thought to be something only empirical scholars should worry about, we show that theoretically oriented scholars also need methods (Chambers, Chapter 2 in this volume). The book offers a glimpse into the toolboxes of both theoretical and empirical scholars of deliberative democracy and presents the methods, and approaches they use for researching deliberative democracy. Theorists, political scientists, sociologists, policy analysts, and communication scholars contribute to the volume by presenting a distinctive angle on how deliberative democracy can be researched and further improved. They showcase examples of deliberation happening not only in structured forums or face-to-face settings, but also in the messy public sphere, in and through various media outlets, the Internet, social movements and everyday conversations. They offer a variety of methods and approaches that can be used to study not only textual and verbal communication but also nonverbal communication including visuals, colours, sound, silence, presence or absence in public deliberation (Ercan and Hendriks, Chapter 22 in this volume, Mendonça et al 2022 )

Some may find it perplexing that there are many methodological possibilities for researching deliberation, and yet no single approach is agreed to be the best. There are also different comprehensions of deliberative democracy. Diana Mutz (2008, 525) may have been exaggerating when she stated that ‘there are as many definitions of deliberation as there are theorists’; nevertheless, it is accurate to say that there has been an expansion of conceptual approaches and interpretations of deliberative democracy over the years ( Bächtiger and Hangartner 2010 ). This raises concerns about ‘concept stretching’, and a worry that normative theory will lose its prescriptive force ( Goodin 2018 , 883). In response to this danger, Robert Goodin suggests distinguishing between different kinds of concept stretching, and accepting only those that are good for deliberative theory. In his view, we may stretch the original vision of deliberative democracy (developed by Habermas) for the purposes of making it ‘more democratic’ (meaning more inclusive), ‘more deliberative’ (meaning open to relevant information, and better informed), or ‘more realistic’ (meaning more applicable to the real world). These three conditions can be read as the shared commitments of deliberative democracy scholarship. What scholars share is not a rigid definition of deliberation, but a set of commitments that drive research and progress in the field.

Rather than searching for ‘the correct definition of deliberation’, we could understand deliberation as contingent, dependent on different contexts and goals, as suggested by André Bächtiger and John Parkinson (2019) . On this account, the conditions for ‘good deliberation’ change depending on whether we seek to realize them in formal institutions or the public sphere. Additionally, the ‘systemic turn’ brings new ways of characterizing and assessing deliberation by shifting the focus from structured forums to multiple other sites of deliberation ( Elstub et al. 2019 ; Steiner et al. 2017 ). Here, the conditions for good deliberation are defined more dynamically. In a healthy deliberative system, good deliberation is not necessarily evenly distributed; the low quality of deliberation in certain sites is compensated for by high-quality deliberation in other sites ( Dryzek 2009 ). More importantly, low deliberative quality may accompany or even be an integral part of protests or other political organizations that add information and draw attention to issues in the deliberative system ( Parry 2017 ). These suggestions open new ways of understanding and studying deliberation.

Despite the dynamism and progress of deliberative scholarship in the past decades, there is still a lot to do. More needs to be done, especially in sharpening the critical edge of our research agendas and broadening our sources of knowledge. For example, we, as editors of this book, recognize that we need to pay attention to the process of knowledge production, and work towards making it more inclusive and democratic (see Asenbaum, Chapter 5 in this volume). Scholars of critical race studies and feminist researchers have long criticized social science methods for using the logic of extraction where researchers ‘take, hit, and run’ ( Reinharz 1992 , 95). Deliberative democracy research is not immune from these critiques, for many of the methods we use are legacies of colonial traditions which we replicate as we study different societies ( Banerjee 2021 ; Morán and Ross 2021 ; also see Smith 1999 ). While most researchers do follow guidelines for ethical conduct in ensuring the safety and dignity of participants, we understand the wider demand that our research be a non-exploitative process that views people as participants in co-producing knowledge.

We also witness the emergence of movements to decolonize knowledge in different disciplines. Indeed, deliberative scholarship needs to re-examine its assumptions about the state, citizenship, and even its own core normative principles as hinged on a particularistic history of Western democracies. Finally, we recognize the domination of countries in the Global North as centres of knowledge production, although we now see increasing recognition of different centres of knowledge production in the field of deliberative democracy. Despite these and many other open questions, there is considerable scope for challenging deliberative democracy to continue evolving and realizing its emancipatory promise.

Practicing What We Preach: The Purpose of Deliberative Democracy Research

The scholarship on deliberative democracy is interested in thinking about ways to improve democratic practice in various settings, ranging from parliamentary debates to everyday conversations. The normative ideals of deliberative democracy not only provide an analytical framework that inform the generation and analysis of data, but also shape the purpose and process of research in important ways.

Just as feminist ideals shape the purpose and conduct of feminist research, for example by requiring researchers to reflect on the significance of gender and gender asymmetry in their work, and utilize their work for advancing women’s empowerment ( Fonow and Cook 2005 ), deliberative ideals such as inclusion, diversity, listening, or openness to new ideas shape the conduct and purpose of research in deliberative democracy. Deliberative democrats aim to problematize exclusions and marginalization or illegitimate decision-making in a democracy and create the conditions for meaningful political communication. They aim to fulfil the democratic ideal of emancipation by disturbing existing democratic practices and prioritizing inclusive forms of engagement ( Wojciechowska 2019 ). In this sense, the tradition of critical theory, in which the goal of knowledge production is emancipation from domination ( Hammond 2019 ; Mendonça 2013 ), is essential to deliberative democracy as a field, even though not all deliberative democrats see themselves as critical theorists. Critical theory, which originally emerged in the Institute for Social Research (or the ‘Frankfurt School’) in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, refers to a particular mode of research and analysis. For critical theorists, the purpose of scientific inquiry is to serve human as well as nonhuman interests and illuminate topics that ordinary people care about ( Smith 2002 ). This requires putting philosophical questions under the spotlight of empirical social science research, with the aim being to effect change in society and enable freedom from oppression.

Some scholars are more explicit than others about these normative commitments and their influence on the topics they choose to study, or the type of research they undertake. They explicate how deliberative norms shape their research and view this process of explanation as strengthening their research and its validity. In this volume, Genevieve Fuji Johnson argues that research informed by deliberative democratic theory cannot be a value-free exercise. The ethically appropriate role of a researcher is to stand in solidarity with groups, communities, and nations experiencing oppression and seeking justice as they define it. ‘Solidaristic research involves recognizing the privilege and power we have as scholars and deploying our resources of social capital, time, and mode toward ending forms of expression’ ( Johnson 2021 , 15). Johnson invites scholars of deliberative democracy to conduct solidaristic research, and take a stance in solidarity with, and empower particularly, those seeking racial justice, such as Indigenous peoples. We should do so, she argues, not simply to feel good about ourselves and our efforts but ‘to contribute constructively and purposefully towards their liberation and resurgence’ (Johnson, Chapter 4 in this volume). In her view, this is how researchers can help to fulfil the emancipatory ideals of deliberative democracy.

Not everybody might agree with this level of normative involvement on the part of researchers in the research process. Researchers can play different roles in deliberative democracy research ( Evans and Kotchetkova 2009 ). Sometimes their role is to design deliberative processes, other times their role involves evaluating these processes. Nevertheless, the attempt to practice what the field preaches remains a frequent feature of deliberative democracy research. Researchers, drawing on deliberative ideals, have engaged with pressing controversies, such as the abortion debate in Ireland, and established deliberative institutions to break the years of political deadlock facing this issue (Farrell and Suiter 2019) . The increasing popularity of citizens’ assemblies in Belgium, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom speaks to a similar practical agenda. Deliberative democracy researchers are a key driver of this development; they advocate institutional reform that enables citizens to deliberate on political issues in an inclusive, reasoned, and consequential manner. (e.g. Curato et al. 2021 ; Farrell and Suiter 2019 ; Renwick et al. 2018 ).

Finally, some researchers draw on deliberative ideals within their own research and make research processes more deliberative. They do so by including themselves in a deliberative dialogue with their research participants. Ricardo Mendonça (2009) , for example, uses this kind of dialogue in his engagement with the dwellers of former leprosy colonies in Brazil. These dialogues enable him to unpack how people with leprosy articulate their suffering and grievances in everyday conversations and in interaction with each other. When informed by the principles of deliberative democracy, qualitative interviews can generate what Nicole Curato (2012) calls ‘intersubjective knowledge’. Such form of knowledge is developed ‘through a linguistic process of exchanging standpoints and bringing together different perspectives into a shared frame of understanding’ ( Curato 2012 , 577). Kei Nishiyama (2018) follows a similar path and seeks this kind of knowledge production, when he conducts group dialogue to unpack the lived experiences of high school students in Japan. Epistemological diversity, justification, and reflection are essential dispositions to research practice for these scholars and many others. Marit Hammond describes this approach as ‘activist deliberative democracy’, where the goal of researchers is not to provide solutions for laypeople but to treat them as ‘capable agents’ who diagnose their political problems and intervene to improve their situations ( Hammond 2019 , 801). The idea is that the research is done with, rather than on, participants ( Bussu et al. 2020 ). Such activist or participatory research approaches put the political project of deliberative democracy at the centre of creating knowledge about deliberative democracy.

Tackling Big Questions through Multiple Methods

Many questions drive deliberative democracy research as it continues to grow in new directions. It would be impossible to do justice to the rich variety of questions that the field raises in this introduction. Yet, based on the chapters included in this book, we have identified four sets of questions that drive research in the field and four corresponding research approaches: theorizing, measuring, exploring, and enacting deliberation (see Table 1.1 ).

The structure of the book reflects these four approaches in the study of deliberative democracy. These are, however, non-exhaustive categories. First, there are important and sometimes inevitable overlaps between the categories. Second, research in deliberative democracy entails many other activities, such as interpreting, evaluating, criticizing, and prescribing. Our four categories aim only to provide a heuristic to organize the multiplicity of research approaches and methods included in this book.

Theorizing is a significant part of deliberative democracy research. It takes various forms, from normative or critical theory to explanatory theory. Despite its significance, there is little guidance on how theorizing is done. Methods courses in political science, sociology or communication studies mostly involve training in empirical methods for data gathering, processing and analysis. They also involve exposure to key theoretical texts, but there is little, if any, guidance as to how theorizing is done. They seem to assume that if students read theory, they will learn to write theory. In the social science literature, the few accounts that instruct how to theorize ( Leopold and Stears 2008 ; Vincent 2004 ) are almost overwhelmed by the plethora of instruction on empirical methods. So how does theorizing work? What concrete steps does a theorist take in her research on deliberative democracy? How do theorists develop deliberative norms? This book presents concrete answers about the forms philosophical and theoretical engagement can take and how to employ empirical methods to develop deliberative theory (see Ackerly et al. 2021 ). As Jane Mansbridge (Chapter 33 in this volume) suggests, empirical researchers and practitioners can become theorists and theorists can become empirical researchers and practitioners.

Measuring allows researchers to develop and operationalize the indicators for good deliberation based on a normative framework. The normative elaboration of the moral principles of deliberation and their translation into empirical indicators needs mathematical abilities, logical rigour, and contextual sensibility as much as theoretical acuity. Measuring deliberation is an important empirical aspiration with several clear gains. First, it allows for research on a large number of cases, and the consequent capacity to reach generalizable findings. Second, measuring deliberation helps establish causal explanations. Third, measurement allows for comparability amongst cases, facilitating clear conclusions. Hence, measuring deliberation can help tell us what does and does not work in the real world. It is essential to building more effective deliberative practices and systems.

Exploring deliberation involves different ways of employing deliberative lenses to critically analyse the complexities and nuances of existing phenomena. Interpretive research methods are important in this regard ( Ercan et al. 2017 ). Their capacity for nuanced engagement with a smaller number of cases allows researchers to lay bare the dynamics of deliberative exchanges. These methods enable researchers to stumble upon novelty and uncover the unexpected. Although deliberative theory works as a guiding framework, deliberative norms are not fixed a priori. Rather, they inspire empirical researchers to explore how deliberation works in the real world and how deliberative ideals might be expanded or adjusted. Rather than accepting as given a pre-established, external reality, the process of exploring deliberation co-constructs deliberative realities through the engagement of researchers and research participants. Exploratory approaches also allow scholars to employ deliberative lens(es) to read and interpret a wide range of phenomena, such as the crisis of democracy, enabling them to redefine the problems and find possible solutions from a deliberative perspective ( Hendriks et al. 2020 ).

Finally, enacting deliberation in the context of research processes reconceptualizes research as a democratic activity. Realizing deliberation in the research process itself can include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. At the heart of enacting deliberation is a new understanding of the role of researchers and research participants. Contemporary science increasingly acknowledges the social responsibility of researchers and makes central the real-world relevance of research. Yet, understanding researchers to have a mandate and obligation for realizing social and political norms clashes with traditional understandings of researchers as detached, objective observers. Inspired by deliberative democratic norms and the tradition of action research, some deliberative scholars employ participatory methods that bring participants as active agents into the research process. Rather than being sources of knowledge to be extracted, participants co-create knowledge on an equal footing with academic researchers ( Bergold and Thomas 2012 ; Bussu et al. 2020 ). In doing so, they contribute to the process of democratizing knowledge production, as noted earlier.

We have divided the thirty-one methods included in this book into these four approaches of researching deliberation. Table 1.2 provides an overview of these approaches and the associated methods.

Navigating this Book

The methods presented in the book are explained directly by those who are using them in their theoretical and/or empirical research on deliberative democracy in a variety of settings, contexts, and countries. Each chapter presents one method, elaborates on its application in deliberative democracy, and offers illustrative examples showing how the method is used, or can be used, in practice. The chapters discuss the strengths of each method as well as its limitations. This kind of critical reflection comports with the deliberative values we embrace in the book, and it is crucial for the continuation of methodological development in the field.

Part I: Theorizing Deliberation

The chapters in Part I focus on theoretical investigations in the field. They emphasize different pathways to constructing theories of deliberative democracy and present theorizing as an important methodological skillset one can learn. Promoting an open and broad discussion on how to conduct theoretical research is essential for the development of the field and its agendas.

Chapter 2 elaborates on different Methods of Theorizing in deliberative democracy research. Simone Chambers argues that while empirical social sciences have a relatively well-defined set of methods, tools, and approaches to work with when designing and undertaking research, political theorists have no clear toolbox to draw on. She introduces a typology of five types of normative theory: ideal theory, critical reflective theory, constructive reflective theory, critical applied theory, and constructive applied theory, and then demonstrates how each is developed and utilized within the deliberative democracy tradition.

Chapter 3 argues that Formal Models are essential to promote conceptual clarity, which is necessary for empirical research. James Johnson argues that models should not be employed exclusively in ‘positive’ research. He notes the need to overcome a misguided dichotomy between positive and normative research, which artificially disentangles facts and values. Models are tools for the interpretation of reality and also lie at the heart of theoretical investigations. He illustrates the implications of theoretical modelling in the context of empirical research by focusing on the concept of ‘agreement’ used by many deliberative democrats.

Chapter 4 focuses on the Grounded Normative Theory (GNT) approach in deliberative democracy. Genevieve Fuji Johnson outlines the basic contours of GNT as a broad field and presents its solidaristic expression as a mode of inquiry that is capable of fostering justice and of expressing solidarity with oppressed groups. GNT blends empirical study with normative theorizing recursively, inclusively, accountably, and solidaristically. Johnson challenges deliberative democrats to develop their ‘critical muscles’ and to ensure that deliberative democracy remains relevant to addressing pressing political issues, including racialized injustice and oppression.

Chapter 5 discusses Democratic Theorizing as a participatory approach to developing democratic theory. Hans Asenbaum develops this approach by drawing on deliberative values of inclusion, diversity, listening, and transparency. In contrast to established approaches to theorizing democracy, it includes human and nonhuman research participants in the theorizing process. Bringing together insights from grounded theory, participatory research, and assemblage theory, democratic theorizing enhances the formative agency of those outside academia. Drawing on a democratic theorizing project with the Black Lives Matter movement, the chapter provides a step-by-step guide to take the reader through the different phases a theorizing project might take.

Part II: Measuring Deliberation

Chapters in Part II present different ways of measuring the quality of deliberation in diverse settings, ranging from parliamentary debates to online discussion forums. Some chapters show how researchers can use the established social science methods, such as surveys, field experiments, or social network analysis, to examine deliberative processes at different levels of political interaction. Other chapters present new methods, which are developed particularly for examining deliberative practices. These include the Discursive Quality Index, the Deliberative Reason Index, and the Listening Quality Index.

Chapter 6 turns to the Discourse Quality Index (DQI) and provides guidance for those interested in adopting it in deliberative democracy research. André Bächtiger, Marlène Gerber, and Eléonore Fournier-Tombs survey the development of this method from its original to its expanded versions, including external and perception-based measurements. The authors also respond to some of the common criticisms of the DQI and reflect on novel developments in the automated measurement of deliberative quality.

Chapter 7 presents the Deliberative Reason Index , designed to assess how individuals reason together in a deliberative process. Simon Niemeyer and Francesco Veri introduce this method to capture the extent that a group coheres towards a shared understanding of the issue and its relevant dimensions. This index maps the intersubjective consistency between actors to understand when and how deliberation improves reasoning. The chapter elaborates on the theoretical underpinning of the approach and the methods used to collect and analyse the results.

Chapter 8 introduces the Listening Quality Index (LQI), an instrument that shifts the attention from speaking to listening in small-scale communicative interactions. Mary F. Scudder offers a critical review of the existing ways to measure listening in deliberation and highlights some of their limitations. She argues that some of these efforts go too far and equate listening with its ‘outcomes’, while others do not go far enough and conflate listening simply with ‘the opportunity to hear’. A less common approach to listening is to look for effects of listening on the ‘speaker’ instead of on the ‘listener’. The LQI incorporates speaker satisfaction into a measure of listening and offers a lexical scale to measure the quality of listening in deliberative processes. The chapter outlines the type of data required for analysis, and how researchers can generate this data during and after the deliberative encounter.

Chapter 9 presents the Macro-level Assessment of Deliberative Quality. Dannica Fleuß outlines a strategy for upscaling the measurement of deliberation to the nation-state level by combining elements from two strands of research: the methodological standards of democracy measurements and the conceptual groundwork of systemic approaches to deliberation. Based on a review of previous measurement approaches, the chapter provides practical advice for the conceptualization, operationalization, and aggregation of procedures that allow valid measurement of nation-states’ deliberativeness. By drawing on this method, researchers can compare the deliberativeness of different democracies and identify the type of institutional reforms required to facilitate and promote deliberative democracy at the national level.

Chapter 10 presents the Online Deliberative Matrix (ODM) as a method of measuring the quality of online deliberation. The method, introduced by Raphaël Kies, facilitates the assessment of political debates online through a matrix that measures three sets of criteria: the presence of deliberation, the deliberative attitudes of participants, and the outcome of the deliberative process. The ODM can be applied to assess the deliberative quality of public debates taking place in the digital public sphere, including online forums designed for deliberation and common social media or news websites. The chapter also reflects on the utility of this method in light of the systemic turn in deliberative democracy and offers a critical review of attempts to scale up the analysis through automated assessment of online deliberation.

Chapter 11 introduces Experimental Methods , detailing the kinds of experiments currently used in deliberative democracy research, including face-to-face, online, laboratory, and field experiments. Kimmo Grönlund and Kaisa Herne elaborate on how they use experimental methods to examine and detect causal relationships in deliberative mini-publics, such as citizens’ assemblies, citizens’ juries, and deliberative polls. The chapter also provides insight into an experiment on enclave deliberation and group polarization in deliberative processes. The authors reflect on the future of experimentation on deliberation and discuss the kinds of methodological innovations needed to advance the empirical research in the field.

Chapter 12 focuses on Deliberative Field Experiments as a method for conducting experiments in real politics. Jon Kingzette and Michael Neblo define field experiments as systematic attempts to understand the causal dynamics of deliberation by manipulating features of the system: in naturalistic settings (rather than via surveys or in labs); on real political issues (rather than hypothetical scenarios); and by engaging a broad cross-section of people in a specific political jurisdiction potentially affected by pending political actions. The chapter outlines the process of deliberative field experiments and illustrates how they can be used to analyse deliberative events, such as the online town halls that Neblo and his colleagues have been organizing with the members of Congress in the US.

Chapter 13 presents Scenario Experiments . Hannah Werner and Lala Muradova explain how they use this method to understand the impacts of deliberation on public opinion formation, democratic legitimacy, and political behaviour. They argue that scenario experiments are most useful when studying the micro mechanisms of internal deliberation and the macro effects of deliberative events on the wider public. They show the application of this method in practice by providing examples from several recent research studies that use scenario experiments to analyze deliberation. The chapter also discusses how the methodological innovations in experimental social science research can improve research on deliberation.

Chapter 14 discuses the many uses of Survey Methods in studying deliberation. John Gastil begins with a typology of survey methods to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of mail, phone, Internet, cross-sectional, and longitudinal surveys. The chapter then offers examples from the use of surveys of participants in singular events, such as Deliberative Polls, the Irish Constitutional Convention, and the Australian Citizens’ Parliament, surveys of participants in laboratory experiments, and surveys of larger populations—often linked with deliberative events, such as the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly or the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review. The chapter concludes by highlighting the ongoing problems in survey methods and reflects on the type of survey methods needed to span different levels of analysis to inform systemic theories of deliberation.

Chapter 15 focuses on Social Network Analysis (SNA), exploring its potential for the study of deliberative processes and, particularly, deliberative systems. Eduardo Silva, Antônio Ribeiro, and Silvio Higgins show how SNA can be employed to explain if and how components of a system relate to each other, as well as different pathologies that may hinder the flow of ideas and proposals from one site to another. The chapter presents different examples illustrating the practical application of SNA in deliberative democracy research and introduces the key metrics used by these investigations.

Chapter 16 explores the use of Big Data Analysis in deliberative scholarship. Delving into this innovative methodological trend, Núria Franco-Guillén, Sebastian De Laile, and John Parkinson define big data and set out methodological decisions necessary in big data analysis. The chapter emphasizes the change in scope represented by the approach, which allows the analysis of massive volumes of data. The authors illustrate the merits and limits of big data analysis in deliberative democracy research by focusing on two case studies: the Scottish independence referendum campaign of 2012–2014, and the Australian campaign to recognize First Nations in its constitution.

Chapter 17 elaborates on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and shows how this method can be used for comparing different instances of deliberative processes. Matt Ryan explains how QCA combines the generalizability of quantitative research with the deep understanding of interpretive research. Through qualitative investigation of a small to medium number of cases, it identifies patterns that allow for valid conclusions. In deliberative democracy research, QCA is particularly useful for comparing a number of cases and understanding the conditions for good and bad deliberation. The chapter provides step-by-step guidance to undertaking QCA and demonstrates how lessons from QCA can be employed to design more successful deliberative forums in the future.

Part III: Exploring Deliberation

Chapters in Part III of the volume focus on the methods that are used to explore deliberation in structured forums and the public sphere. As readers will notice, some methods use similar data-gathering techniques but diverge in terms of the type of data they gather and analyse. For example, methods, such as the Talk-based Analysis or Narrative Analysis focus on the analysis of talk and text, while others, such as Dramaturgical Analysis and Frame Analysis enable researchers to also take into account non-verbal forms of expression and performances. This part also includes examples of methods that sit at the intersection of quantitative and qualitative modes of analysis, such as Q methodology or Mixed Methods.

Chapter 18 discusses the use of Ethnography in the study of deliberative democracy. Nicole Curato and Nicole Doerr outline two purposes of ethnography—to describe and to critique the lived experience of deliberative practice. The chapter presents a variety of empirical cases covering ten years of ethnographic work. In doing so, the chapter invites reflection on the positionality of the observer in culturally complex and multilingual deliberation. It also makes a case for conducting ethnography in non-ideal settings marked by inequality, to sharpen our understanding of deliberative theory in relation to fields of visual and cultural sociology, performance, and affect studies.

Chapter 19 introduces Rhetorical Criticism as a method that enables a close textual analysis of deliberative discourse. Influenced by poststructuralism, critical theory, and feminist theory, rhetorical criticism stresses how discourse constructs reality and how various material and symbolic contexts shape communicative practices. Drawing on examples from recent scholarship, John Rountree outlines how rhetorical criticism can be undertaken. The chapter addresses the key research questions this method can help respond to, its units of analysis, its approach to building a dataset, and its method for translating textual evidence into interpretive arguments.

Chapter 20 explores Process Tracing as a method for structuring qualitative, explanatory case-study analysis of deliberative processes. Jonathan Pickering outlines process tracing as a method to identify causal mechanisms that connect the causes of events or phenomena to their outcomes, drawing evidence from a wide array of sources associated with a single case or a small number of cases. Many empirical studies in political science have employed process tracing in a loose manner, and only more recently have political scientists made a concerted effort to develop a more systematic approach. This chapter shows how deliberative democracy scholars can employ process tracing to assess deliberation within and beyond mini-publics, highlighting areas for future research.

Chapter 21 presents Q Methodology , which is used for comprehending subjective viewpoints or discourses, involving both quantitative and qualitative elements. Lucy Parry shows how Q methodology is used to identify the balance of discourses in various sites witihin the broader deliberaitve system. This is illustrated in a detailed guide drawing on a Q methodology study on the representation of animals in the foxhunting discourse in the United Kingdom.

Chapter 22 introduces Dramaturgical Analysis as a way of analysing the performative aspects of public deliberation. Selen Ercan and Carolyn Hendriks outline the key dimensions of dramaturgical analysis, such as scripting, setting, staging and performance. The chapter shows how these dimensions can be used to analyse the communicative interactions in various settings, ranging from structured forums to the broader public sphere. Dramaturgical analysis directs the researcher’s attention to often-overlooked or taken-for-granted aspects of public deliberation, such as the performative styles and body language of the actors involved in deliberation, where they stand, how they enact and stage their arguments, what symbols and artefacts they use to reinforce their viewpoints, and how they reach out and persuade diverse audiences. Drawing on dramaturgical analysis, researchers can study verbal and non-verbal interactions taking place in deliberative practices.

Chapter 23 explains how Narrative Analysis can be used in deliberative democracy research. John Boswell argues that while narrative analysis has much to offer scholars of deliberation, the growing interest in and adoption of this approach in social science research presents some complexities and confusions. The chapter clarifies a version of narrative analysis considered as particularly suitable for studying deliberative practice (grounded in the traditions of interpretive policy analysis) and offers examples of how this analysis can be undertaken.

Chapter 24 introduces Frame Analysis as a method for studying deliberative democracy generally, and deliberative systems in particular. Ricardo Mendonça and Paula Simões argue that the method’s focus on the contextual dimension of meaning-making processes offers a path for the investigation of discursive clashes across time and space. The chapter raises the question of how frames produce particular perceptions of reality and how deliberative democracy draws attention to who has the power to produce such frames. The chapter distinguishes between three traditions of frame analysis and illustrates what frame analysis can contribute to the study of deliberative democracy through a variety of examples.

Chapter 25 describes Talk-based Analysis , which can be used for analysing speech, discourse, and rhetoric delivered in deliberative spaces. As Paromita Sanyal explains, this method provides a tool for the qualitative analysis of who says what and how, employing a semiotic approach that links speech and performance. The talk-based method is useful for examining the influence of social stratification and inequalities on public deliberations. Sanyal shows how she used this method in state-citizen discussions in constitutionally mandated village assemblies, gram sabha , in India. The analysis draws attention to how citizens talk to the state, as they voice demands or requests for public goods and personal benefits, complain about government negligence, and protest corruption and government inefficiencies.

Chapter 26 explores Media Analysis to study deliberative democracy. Rousiley Maia and Tariq Choucair argue that the systemic turn in deliberative theory has invited a reconceptualization of argumentative exchange across different contexts and spaces. A systemic approach cannot afford to ignore interfaces between deliberation in institutional forums and more mundane discussions, and, consequentially, the neighbouring field of mass media and digital communication. This chapter offers a way of employing content analysis for researching mass media material and diversified online platforms. It presents different ways of using content analysis and blending it with other techniques to study deliberation at micro, macro and sytem levels.

Chapter 27 outlines the use of Mixed Methods to analyse deliberative processes and argues that mixed methods are well-suited to grappling with deliberation’s complexity. Oliver Escobar reviews methodological foundations and outlines questions and puzzles where mixed methods can contribute to deliberative scholarship. The chapter also covers research design, data generation, analysis, and quality standards, while offering examples and concluding with a call to strengthen the mixed methods community of practice within the field of deliberative democracy.

Chapter 28 highlights the importance of Case Study Research for the study of deliberative democracy. Stephen Elstub and Gianfranco Pomatto provide guidance on how to select cases and collect and analyse data in the field of deliberative democracy. In comparison with other methods, case studies have the advantage of delving into an individual case with the help of various methods and thus exploring it in depth. While it might be expected that case studies are particularly apt for exploring deliberative forums, the chapter shows how such explorations can teach us important lessons about how deliberation can be scaled up in deliberative systems.

Part IV: Enacting Deliberation

Finally, the fourth part focuses on the methods that bring deliberation to action through research. The methods draw on deliberative ideals for producing both knowledge and action. One of these methods, Deliberative Policy Analysis, for example, seeks to bring together a range of actors including citizens, politicians, and experts for formulating and implementing democratically legitimate policies. When researchers enact deliberation as part of their research or analysis, they work alongside participants and seek to improve deliberation in practice. The chapters included in this part of the book show how this may happen in both structured forums and the wider public sphere. They also reflect on some of the limitations and challenges of enacting deliberation in the context of a research process.

Chapter 29 outlines Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) as an effective alternative approach to mainstream technocratic policy analysis. Hendrik Wagenaar presents two distinguishing characteristics of DPA: its focus on inclusive deliberation as a strategy of policy inquiry, and its orientation towards practice. While DPA accommodates a range of interpretive methods, this chapter focuses on the relatively neglected analysis of practice. The analysis of practice requires a combination of sufficiently close-up ethnographic observation to allow the researcher to capture the deliberative practices, and an inductive theoretical rendition of these observations. The chapter shows how DPA can help to reveal the mundane practices, the hidden configurations of the process of policy formulation and implementation.

Chapter 30 makes a case for using Action Research in the study of public deliberation. Kiran Cunningham and Lilian Muyomba-Tamale draw our attention to some of the key principles that action research shares with deliberative democracy. These entail inclusion, equity, and the goal of collective knowledge production. Action research, with its roots in feminist studies and critical theory, not only helps to investigate the processes and impacts of deliberation, but also offers a method of enacting deliberation. Drawing on the example of Civic Engagement Action Plans (CEAPs) in Uganda, the authors show how deliberation and action research can go hand in hand and enable the inclusion of citizens and civil society actors into governmental decision-making processes.

Chapter 31 introduces Community of Inquiry (CoI) as a group interview method. Kei Nishiyama elaborates on the philosophical roots of the CoI, which was originally pioneered by pragmatist philosophers, such as John Dewey, as a group dialogue for reflective knowledge-construction. As a research method, CoI enacts deliberative ideals in practice in two important ways. First, it encourages reflection and reason-giving in the context of the interview process. Second, it emphasizes collaborative questioning and active listening, which help to minimize the power imbalances between an interviewer and interviewees and between interviewees. Nishiyama shows how he uses CoI in conducting group interviews with children.

Chapter 32 presents an innovative method, namely The Deliberative Camp , to generate knowledge about social movements interactions, while also promoting such interactions in practice. Donatella della Porta and Andrea Felicetti elaborate on how researchers can co-organize Deliberative Camps along with activists, and how these camps can be used to shed light on dynamic practices performed by social movements and nurture their critical reflection about these practices. As a method of inquiry, the Deliberative Camp formalizes deliberations occurring within and between social movements and provides a powerful tool to deepen the comprehension of the relationships between social movements and deliberative democracy. The chapter discusses the main ideas behind this method, presents the key steps required for its implementation, and outlines its potential contribution as well as limitations for research on social movements and deliberative democracy.

Finally, in Chapter 33 , Jane Mansbridge provides concluding remarks on contemporary research in deliberative democracy. In this chapter, which is entited Mutual Need , she argues that the field requires and benefits from a close relationship between theory, practice, and empirical analysis. In her view, this is essential for the production of normatively legitimate decisions in a complex world. Mansbridge concludes the book with a note of hope on human ingenuity and the capacity to strengthen democracy in the face of the grave problems confronting our societies today.

We hope that this book captures the diversity of available methods, and we look forward to learning about other methods that we failed to include in this collection. Our aim in publishing this volume open access is to ‘practice what we preach’. We want anyone wishing to learn about or take part in methodological debates in deliberative democracy to be able to do so without any prohibitions to access to information. We hope that readers find our book both useful and empowering. Rather than a canonical volume that closes a debate, we see this book as the start of a conversation that will increase the diversity and sophistication of empirical and theoretical engagements in future deliberative democracy research.

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8 Questions About Democracy Answered

The origins of the word democracy reveal its meaning: it comes from the Greek word dēmokratia , which was derived from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”). In other words: rule by the people. The questions and answers in this list are taken from the Top Questions sections of the articles on  democracy , Roman Republic , ancient Greece , monarchy , liberalism , and Democritus , where you can find many more questions answered.

What is democracy?

Democracy is a system of government in which laws, policies, leadership, and major undertakings of a state or other polity are directly or indirectly decided by the “people,” a group historically constituted by only a minority of the population (e.g., all free adult males in ancient Athens or all sufficiently propertied adult males in 19th-century Britain) but generally understood since the mid-20th century to include all (or nearly all) adult citizens.

Where was democracy first practiced?

Studies of contemporary nonliterate tribal societies and other evidence suggest that democracy, broadly speaking, was practiced within tribes of hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times. The transition to settled agricultural communities led to inequalities of wealth and power between and within communities and hierarchical nondemocratic forms of social organization. Thousands of years later, in the 6th century BCE, a relatively democratic form of government was introduced in the city-state of Athens by Cleisthenes .

How is democracy better than other forms of government?

By and large, states with democratic governments prevent rule by autocrats, guarantee fundamental individual rights, allow for a relatively high level of political equality, and rarely make war on each other. As compared with nondemocratic states, they also better foster human development as measured by indicators such as health and education, provide more prosperity for their citizens, and ensure a broader range of personal freedoms. 

Was the Roman Republic a democracy?

The Roman Republic was a democracy. Its government consisted of the Senate and four assemblies: the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Concilium Plebis, and the Comitia Tributa. Nevertheless, in emergency situations the Senate and consuls would appoint a temporary dictator to rule for a limited amount of time. The most famous of these dictators was Cincinnatus .

Was ancient Greece a democracy?

Each ancient Greek city-state had its own government. Common forms of government included tyranny and oligarchy . In 507 BCE, under the leadership of  Cleisthenes , the citizens of Athens began to develop a system of popular rule that they called democracy, which would last nearly two centuries. In their governing body, the Assembly (Ecclesia), all adult male citizens, perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the total population, were eligible to vote.

What is the difference between monarchy and democracy?

Monarchy is a political system based on the sovereignty of a single ruler. Democracy, a term that means “rule by the people,” is a political system in which laws, policies, leaders, and major state undertakings are decided directly or indirectly by the citizens.

How is liberalism related to democracy?

In John Locke ’s theory, the consent of the governed was secured through a system of majority rule, whereby the government would carry out the expressed will of the electorate. However, in the England of Locke’s time and in other democratic societies for centuries thereafter, not every person was considered a member of the electorate, which until the 20th century was generally limited to propertied white males. There is no necessary connection between liberalism and any specific form of democratic government, and indeed Locke’s liberalism presupposed a constitutional monarchy .

Is “democracy” named for Democritus?

No. Despite its phonetic similarity to Democritus, democracy is not named for the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus. The word democracy is actually derived from the Greek dēmokratiā , which in turn derives from the Greek dēmos (meaning “people”) and kratos (meaning “rule”).

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Twelve Key Findings in Deliberative Democracy Research

This essay reflects on the development of the field of deliberative democracy by discussing twelve key findings that capture a number of resolved issues in normative theory, conceptual clarification, and associated empirical results. We argue that these findings deserve to be more widely recognized and viewed as a foundation for future practice and research. We draw on our own research and that of others in the field.

Nicole Curato is Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Fellow at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has published articles in such journals as Policy Sciences , Policy Studies , and European Political Science Review .

John S. Dryzek is Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Centenary Professor in the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, Australia. His recent books include Democratizing Global Climate Governance (with Hayley Stevenson, 2014), Climate-Challenged Society (with Richard B. Norgaard and David Schlosberg, 2013), and The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses (third edition, 2013).

Selen A. Ercan is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has published articles in such journals as International Political Science Review , Policy and Politics , Australian Journal of Political Science , and Critical Policy Studies .

Carolyn M. Hendriks is Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. She is the author of The Politics of Public Deliberation: Citizen Engagement and Interest Advocacy (2011) and has published in such journals as Politics & Society , Political Studies , and European Journal of Political Research .

Simon Niemeyer is Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, Australia. He has published articles in such journals as American Political Science Review , Politics & Society , Ethical Perspectives , and Australian Journal of Politics and History .

D eliberative democracy is a normative project grounded in political theory. And political theorists make a living in large part by disagreeing with and criticizing each other. In fact, it is possible to evaluate the success of a political theory by the number of critics it attracts, and the vitality of its intramural disputes. By this measure, deliberative democracy is very successful indeed. Yet if the normative project is to progress and be applied effectively in practice, it needs to lay some issues to rest.

Deliberative democracy is not just the area of contention that its standing as a normative political theory would suggest. It is also home to a large volume of empirical social science research that, at its best, proceeds in dialogue with the normative theory. Indeed, the field is exemplary in this combination of political theory and empirical research. Deliberative ideas have also attracted the attention of citizens, activists, reform organizations, and decision-makers around the world. The practical uptake of deliberative ideas in political innovation provides a rich source of lessons from experience that can be added to theorizing and social science. This combination has proven extremely fruitful. Rather than proving or falsifying key hypotheses, deliberative practice has sharpened the focus of the normative project, showing how it can be applied in many different contexts.

We believe that conceptual analysis, logic, empirical study, normative theorizing, and the refinement of deliberative practice have set at least some controversies to rest, and we provide the following set of twelve key findings that can be used as the basis for further developments.

D eliber ative democracy is realistic . Skeptics have questioned the practical viability of deliberative democracy: its ideals have been criticized as utopian and its forums have been dismissed as mere experiments, with no hope of being institutionalized effectively. 1

But skeptics have been proved wrong by the many and diverse deliberative innovations that have been implemented in a variety of political systems. 2 Both state and nonstate institutions demand more deliberative forms of citizen engagement. Policy-makers and politicians convene citizens’ forums to elicit informed views on particular issues. 3 Studies find that deliberating citizens can and do influence policies, though impacts vary and can be indirect. 4 Deliberative forums are also being implemented in parliamentary and electoral contexts. 5 Outside the state, citizen forums are funded and implemented variously by civil society organizations, think tanks, corporations, and international organizations to advance a particular cause, foster public debate, or promote democratic reform. 6

The recent turn toward deliberative systems demonstrates that deliberative democratic ideals can be pursued on a large scale in ways that link particular forums and more informal practices, such as communication in old and new media. 7 Deliberative democracy is not utopian; it is already implemented within, outside, and across governmental institutions worldwide.

Deliberation is essential to democracy . Social choice theory appears to demonstrate that democratic politics must be plagued by arbitrariness and instability in collective decision. Notably, for political scientist William Riker, clever politicians can manipulate agendas and the order in which votes are taken to ensure their preferred option wins. 8 But if their opponents are also clever, they can do the same. And in that case, there can be no stable will of the people that can possibly be revealed by voting (in, say, a legislature). So, how can meaning and stability be restored to democracy? There are essentially two mechanisms, once dictatorship is ruled out. The first is what rational choice theorist Kenneth Shepsle calls “structure induced equilibrium,” under which formal rules and informal understandings restrict strategizing, including the ability to manipulate agendas and the order in which votes are taken. 9 The second is deliberation.

Political theorist David Miller and, later, John Dryzek and political philosopher Christian List have demonstrated formally that deliberation can, among other responses: 1) induce agreement to restrict the ability of actors to introduce new options that destabilize the decision process and 2) structure the preferences of participants such that they become “single-peaked” along one dimension, thus reducing the prevalence of manipulable cycles across alternatives (in which option A beats B in a majority vote, B beats C, and C beats A). 10 Empirical research confirms this effect. 11

This result explains why all democratic settings, in practice, feature some combination of communication, which can be more or less deliberative, and formal and informal rules. The more deliberative the communication, the better democracy works. Democracy must be deliberative.

Deliberation is more than discussion . Deliberative democracy is talk-centric. But talk alone can be pathological, producing wildly mixed results from an ideal deliberative perspective. 12 Resolution here requires distinguishing carefully between deliberation and discussion.

Empirical observation reveals that deliberation is more complex than originally theorized, involving both dispositional and procedural components. The purely procedural rationalist model of deliberation is normatively problematic because it is empirically questionable. 13 Distinguishing between deliberation and discussion introduces an emotional dimension in which dispositional factors, such as open-mindedness, are important. 14

The overall content of this disposition has more recently been referred to as the “deliberative stance,” which political theorists David Owen and Graham Smith have defined as “a relation to others as equals engaged in mutual exchange of reasons oriented as if to reaching a shared practical judgement.” 15 Achieving a deliberative stance in citizen deliberation involves careful facilitation and attention to “emotional interaction.” 16 Its achievement in group settings can be a pleasurable experience and consistent with ideals of human cognition. 17 Scaling these effects up to the wider deliberative system requires careful attention to institutional settings. 18

Deliberative democracy involves multiple sorts of communication . Some democrats have charged deliberative democracy with being overly rationalistic. For political scientist Lynn Sanders, deliberation works undemocratically for it excludes “those who are less likely to present their arguments in ways that we recognize as characteristically deliberative.” 19 Sanders refers to women, racial minorities, and the poor, whose speech cultures depart from “rationalist” forms of discourse that privilege dispassionate argumentation, logical coherence, and evidence-based claims as practiced in the most exclusive kinds of scholarly debates, parliamentary procedures, and judicial argumentation. A similar kind of critique has been raised by political theorist Chantal Mouffe, who criticizes deliberative democrats for missing the crucial role that passion plays in politics and for emphasizing the rationalism of liberal democratic political thought. 20

Deliberative democrats have responded by foregrounding the varied articulations of reason-giving and consensus requirements of deliberation. Most have acknowledged political philosopher Iris Young’s conception of “communicative democracy” and have conditionally embraced greeting, rhetoric, humor, testimonies, storytelling, and other sorts of communication. 21 Even the originally somewhat rationalistic criteria of the widely used Discourse Quality Index have evolved to include storytelling as one indicator, recognizing the importance of personal narratives in political claim-making. 22 Recent developments in deliberative theory have begun to recognize the plurality of speech cultures. The turn to deliberative systems has emphasized multiple sites of communication, each of which can host various forms of speech that can enrich the inclusive character of a deliberative system. The increasing attention paid to deliberative cultures is also part of this trajectory, in which systems of meanings and norms in diverse cultural contexts are unpacked to understand the different ways political agents take part in deliberative politics. 23

Deliberation is for all . The charge of elitism was one of the earliest criticisms of deliberative democratic theory: that only privileged, educated citizens have access to the language and procedures of deliberation. However, empirical research has established the inclusive, rather than elitist, character of deliberative democracy.

Findings in deliberative experiments suggest that deliberation can temper rather than reinforce elite power. Political scientists James Druckman and Kjersten Nelson have shown how citizen conversations can vitiate the influence of elite framing. 24 Simon Niemeyer has shown how deliberative mini-publics, such as citizens’ juries (composed of a relatively small number of lay citizens), can see through “symbolic politics” and elite manipulation of public discourse through spin doctoring. 25 Real-world deliberative processes provide considerable evidence on deliberation’s potential to build capacities of traditionally marginalized groups. Economist Vijayendra Rao and sociologist Paromita Sanyal’s work on gram sabhas in South India is a landmark study, demonstrating village-level deliberations’ capacity to mobilize civic agency among the poor, counteracting resource scarcity and social stratification. 26 Brazil’s National Public Policy Conferences – one of the biggest nationally successful exercises in public deliberation – illustrate how ordinary citizens influence public policy once they acquire the opportunity to take part in consequential deliberation. 27

These examples illustrate deliberative democracy’s record in curtailing, rather than perpetuating, elite domination by creating space for ordinary political actors to create, contest, and reflect upon ideas, options, and discourses.

Deliberative democracy has a nuanced view of power . Early critics of deliberative democracy worried about its political naiveté, particularly its neglect of power and strategy. 28 However, deliberative democracy is not naive about power, but rather has a nuanced approach to it.

In the deliberative ideal, coercive forms of power, defined as the threat of sanction or use of force against another’s interests, are absent because they distort communication. 29 But deliberative practice reveals that coercive power is ubiquitous: it pervades the very process of argumentation and communication, affects the remit and organization of deliberative procedures, and shapes the broader policy context. 30 Procedural designs can, however, limit coercive power by, for example, selecting participants that are less partisan, using independent facilitators, or ensuring deliberations are public.

Empowering or generative forms of power are central to the communicative force of deliberative governance. 31 Authoritative power is also necessary for deliberative democracy, which requires leaders who are receptive to the concerns of affected publics and have the legitimate authority to consider and act on the public’s preferences and concerns. 32 Actors in and around deliberative processes can also strategize to advance agendas and address inequalities. 33

Deliberative democrats recognize that coercive power pervades social relations, but understand that certain kinds of power are needed to maintain order in a deliberative process, to address inequalities, and to implement decisions. 34

Productive deliberation is plural, not consensual . A seeming commitment to the pursuit of consensus – that is, agreement on both a course of action and the reasons for it – once provided a target for critics of deliberative democracy, who stressed its other-worldly character and silencing of dissident voices. 35 However, contrary to these arguments, deliberative democrats have rarely endorsed consensus as an aspiration for real-world decision-making (as opposed to one theoretical reference point).

Decision-making in deliberative democracy can involve voting, negotiation, or workable agreements that entail agreement on a course of action, but not on the reasons for it. All of these benefit from deliberation, which can involve clarification of the sources of disagreement, and understanding the reasons of others. Rather than consensus, deliberation should recognize pluralism and strive for metaconsensus, which involves mutual recognition of the legitimacy of the different values, preferences, judgments, and discourses held by other participants. 36

At first sight, this acceptance of pluralism and metaconsensus might seem to contradict the findings of political scientist Jürg Steiner and colleagues that the more consensual a system of government, the better the quality of deliberation that occurs in its legislature. Consensual democracies – notably the Nordic countries, The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland – are also arguably the world’s most successful states on a variety of indicators, suggesting a strong correlation between deliberation and public policy success, though correlation here does not necessarily imply causality. However, the concept of consensual liberal democratic states (as opposed to adversarial ) does not imply consensus in the strong sense we identified. Consensual states are still pluralistic, but their pluralism is channeled into workable agreements, not adversarial point-scoring.

Participation and deliberation go together . A sharp distinction between participation and deliberation is drawn by political theorist Carole Pateman, who argues that deliberative democrats have shown “little interest in the last thirty years of participatory promotion” and instead focus on mini-publics or “new deliberative bodies.” 37

This distinction misfires. First, while it is true that a large number of deliberative scholars research mini-publics, these studies are motivated by the desire to better understand how lessons learned from small-scale deliberative forums can be scaled up to mass democracies and enhance the quality of political participation. So, for example, John Dryzek and ecological economist Alex Lo have shown how particular rhetorical moves can increase the quality of reasoning in a mini-public, which has direct implications for how climate change should be communicated in the public sphere (further examples will be provided in our discussions of time, group polarization, and divided societies). 38 Mini-publics, in other words, are not valorized as democratic practice par excellence, but rather are used as a tool to democratize other facets of political life and deepen the quality of political participation.

Second, the political projects of participatory and deliberative democracy are intimately linked. Pateman’s aspirations for a “participatory society,” in which various aspects of our social and political lives are democratized, are not distinct from deliberative democrats’ vision of a society in which all citizens affected by a decision have capacities and opportunities to deliberate in the public sphere. 39 This has been articulated by “macro” deliberative theorists, whose focus is to improve the quality of political participation in the public sphere, whether online or offline, mediated or face-to-face, such that citizens can affect political processes on issues they care about.

Deliberative transformation takes time . Deliberation by definition requires amenability to preference transformation, but such transformation may not be a good measure of the quality of deliberation. 40 While large changes in preferences can occur early in deliberative processes, this change can reflect anticipation of absorbing information and group deliberation as much as the effect of deliberation proper. 41

The goal of deliberation is for citizens to determine reflectively not only preferences, but also the reasons that support them. 42 As we have already noted, at the group level, this involves the formation of a kind of metaconsensus featuring mutual recognition of the manner in which beliefs and values map onto preferences. 43

This process takes time and deliberation does not necessarily follow a smooth path. Initial changes to preferences can even be partially reversed. The initial opening up of minds (as part of taking a deliberative stance) and uptake of information represents a dramatic threshold in the transition toward deliberation proper, producing changes that represent catharsis as much as deliberation. It is subsequent reflection that produces deliberative preferences, only after the stance is achieved. 44 Consequently, reported results from very short deliberative processes may only reflect the path toward, rather than the result of, deliberation. True deliberative transformation takes longer than that.

Deliberation is the solution to group polarization . Cass Sunstein has claimed that a “law of group polarization” causes “deliberative trouble.” 45 For if a group is made up of people whose opinions range from moderate to extreme on an issue, after deliberation, the group’s average position will be closer to the extreme. Thus, deliberation leads to unhealthy political polarization. There are three reasons why deliberative democracy does not succumb to this.

First, polarization depends crucially on group homogeneity, in which initial opinions vary from moderate to extreme in a single direction, such as the degree of denial of climate science or the degree of support for public education. For anyone designing a deliberative forum, the solution is simple: make sure there are participants from different sides on an issue. James Fishkin says this is exactly how his deliberative opinion polls resist polarization: a random selection of participants ensures a variety of initial views. 46

Second, what Sunstein describes as polarization could, in many cases, be described as clarity. This is especially important for oppressed groups struggling to find a voice. 47 Talk with like-minded others can give people, individually and collectively, the confidence subsequently to enter the larger public sphere; enclave deliberation can have positive effects in the deliberative system.

Third, political scientist Kimmo Grönlund and colleagues have demonstrated that polarization only applies under unstructured conversation; 48 polarization is not found when groups are run on standard deliberative principles with a facilitator. Their experiment involved citizens deliberating immigration in Finland, and after deliberation, a group that was moderately to extremely hostile to immigrants shifted toward a generally more tolerant opinion. After unstructured discussion, a similar group was, on average, more extreme. Deliberation does, then, provide solutions to group polarization, most obviously when it moves beyond unstructured discussion.

Deliberative democracy applies to deeply divided societies . Deeply divided societies characterized by mutually exclusive religious, national, racial, or ethnic identity claims challenge any kind of democratic politics, including deliberative politics, which some skeptics believe belongs only in more orderly and less fraught settings. Popular political solutions for deeply divided societies instead involve power-sharing negotiated by elites from different blocs, leaving no space for public deliberation (indeed, communication of any sort) across the divide. 49

There is, however, growing empirical evidence showing that deliberative practices can flourish in deeply divided societies to good effect, be it in association with, or at some distance from, power-sharing arrangements. Evidence comes from formats ranging from mixed-identity discussion groups located in civil society to more structured citizen forums with participants from different sides. 50 Mini-public experiments on deeply divided societies, for example, generate crucial lessons on how conversations in the public sphere can be organized in such a way that they aid in forging mutual respect and understanding across discursive enclaves. As political scientist Robert Luskin and colleagues have noted, once assembled, conflicting groups in divided societies can “have enough in common to permit meaningful and constructive deliberation.” 51 Such deliberation can promote recognition, mutual understanding, social learning about the other side, and even solidarity across deep differences. 52

Deliberative processes have been applied in divided societies such as South Africa, Turkey, Bosnia, Belgium, and Northern Ireland. Given the depth of the disagreement among conflicting groups, deliberative practices do not seek or yield consensus (understood as universal agreement both on a course of action and the reasons for it), but they play a crucial role in terms of “working agreements” across the parties to a conflict. Under the right conditions, deliberation in divided societies can help to bridge the deep conflicts across religious, national, racial, and ethnic lines.

Deliberative research productively deploys diverse methods . Standard social science methods, such as surveys and psychological experiments, are often used to study deliberation. However, they do not do full justice to the ability of deliberators to develop their own understanding of contexts, which can extend to the kinds of social science instruments that are appropriate and to questions that should be asked. Standard methods have a hard time capturing these dynamic aspects of deliberative opinion formation, and they tell us nothing about the broader political or social context in which public deliberation occurs. 53

Innovative quantitative methods have been developed to remedy these shortcomings: 54 they can involve analyzing the content of deliberations to assess deliberative practice against normative standards, to measure the quality of deliberation, and to evaluate the intersubjective consistency of deliberators across preferences and values. 55 Qualitative and interpretive methods have also generated empirical insights into public deliberation, particularly through in-depth case studies. Methods such as in-depth interviews and observation have been used to examine the views and behavior of political actors in and around deliberative forums. 56 Frame and narrative analysis have been used to map discourses and analyze the communicative dynamics of deliberative systems. 57

Deliberative democracy scholars deploy multiple research methods to shed light on diverse aspects of public deliberation in practice. Those who insist on using conventional social science methods must recognize that their results should be interpreted in light of this broader array of methods and the breadth of understanding so enabled.

W e have surveyed what we believe to be a number of key resolved issues in the theory, study, and practice of deliberative democracy. In a number of cases, we have replied to critics skeptical of the desirability, possibility, and applicability of deliberative democracy. Our intent is not, however, to silence critics. Rather, we hope that their efforts can be more tightly focused on the real vulnerabilities of the project, rather than its imagined or discarded features. However, we suspect that, in practice, our summary of key findings will be more useful to those seeking to advance or study the project, rather than those trying to refute it. For these scholars and practitioners, identifying the resolved issues will leave them free to concentrate on unresolved issues.

1 John Mueller, Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999); and Daniel A. Bell, “Democratic Deliberation: The Problem of Implementation,” in Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement , ed. Stephen Macedo (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 71–87.

2 Stephen A. Coleman, Anna Przybylska, and Yves Sintomer, eds., Deliberation and Democracy: Innovative Processes and Institutions (New York: Peter Lang, 2015).

3 Tina Nabatchi, John Gastil, G. Michael Weiksner, and Matt Leighninger, eds., Democracy in Motion: Evaluating the Practice and Impact of Deliberative Civic Engagement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

4 Gregory Barrett, Miriam Wyman, and Vera Schatten, “Assessing Policy Impacts of Deliberative Civic Engagement,” in ibid., 181–203.

5 Carolyn M. Hendriks, “Coupling Citizens and Elites in Deliberative Systems: The Role of Institutional Design,” European Journal of Political Research 55 (1) (2016): 43–60.

6 See Nabatchi et al., Democracy in Motion.

7 John Parkinson and Jane Mansbridge, eds., Deliberative Systems: Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

8 William H. Riker, Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1982).

9 Kenneth A. Shepsle, “Institutional Agreements and Equilibrium in Multidimensional Voting Models,” American Journal of Political Science 23 (1) (1979): 27–59.

10 David Miller, “Deliberative Democracy and Social Choice,” Political Studies 40 (1) (1992): 54–67; and John S. Dryzek and Christian List, “Social Choice Theory and Deliberative Democracy: A Reconciliation,” British Journal of Political Science 33 (1) (2003): 1–23.

11 Christian List, Robert C. Luskin, James S. Fishkin, and Iain McLean, “Deliberation, Single-Peakedness, and the Possibility of Meaningful Democracy,” Journal of Politics 75 (1) (2013): 80–95.

12 Tali Mendelberg, “The Deliberative Citizen: Theory and Evidence,” in Political Decision Making, Deliberation and Participation: Research in Micropolitics , vol. 6, ed. Michael X. Delli Carpini, Leonie Huddy, and Robert Y. Shapiro (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 2002), 151–193.

13 Iris Marion Young, “Justice, Inclusion, and Deliberative Democracy,” in Deliberative Politics , ed. Macedo, 151–158.

14 George Loewenstein, Ted O’Donoughue, and Sudeep Bhatia, “Modelling the Interplay Between Affect and Deliberation,” Decision 2 (2) (2015): 55–81; and Jason Barabas, “How Deliberation Affects Policy Opinions,” American Political Science Review 98 (4) (2004): 687–701.

15 David Owen and Graham Smith, “Survey Article: Deliberation, Democracy, and the Systemic Turn,” Journal of Political Philosophy 23 (2) (2015): 228.

16 Jane Mansbridge, Janette Hartz-Karp, Matthew Amengual, and John Gastil, “Norms of Deliberation: An Inductive Study,” Journal of Public Deliberation 2 (1) (2006).

17 Hugo Mercier and Hélène E. Landemore, “Reasoning is for Arguing: Understanding the Successes and Failures of Deliberation,” Political Psychology 33 (2) (2012): 243–258.

18 Simon J. Niemeyer, “Scaling Up Deliberation to Mass Publics: Harnessing Mini-Publics in a Deliberative System,” in Deliberative Mini-Publics: Practices, Promises, Pitfalls , ed. Kimmo Grönlund, André Bächtiger, and Maija Setälä (Colchester, United Kingdom: ECPR Press, 2014).

19 Lynn M. Sanders, “Against Deliberation,” Political Theory 25 (3) (1997): 349.

20 Chantal Mouffe, “Politics and Passions: The Stakes of Democracy,” Ethical Perspectives 7 (2/3) (2000): 146–150.

21 Iris Marion Young, “Difference as a Resource for Democratic Communication,” in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics , ed. James F. Bohman and William Rehg (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1997), 383–406.

22 Jürg Steiner, André Bächtiger, Markus Spörndli, and Marco Steenbergen, Deliberative Politics in Action: Analyzing Parliamentary Discourse (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

23 Jensen Sass and John S. Dryzek, “Deliberative Cultures,” Political Theory 42 (1) (2014): 3–25.

24 James N. Druckman and Kjersten R. Nelson, “Framing and Deliberation: How Citizens’ Conversations Limit Elite Influence,” American Journal of Political Science 47 (4) (2003): 729–745.

25 Simon J. Niemeyer, “The Emancipatory Effect of Deliberation: Empirical Lessons from Mini-Publics,” Politics & Society 39 (1) (2011): 103–140.

26 Vijayendra Rao and Paromita Sanyal, “Dignity Through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 629 (1) (2010): 146–172.

27 Thamy Pogrebinschi and David Samuels, “The Impact of Participatory Democracy: Evidence from Brazil’s National Public Policy Conferences,” Comparative Politics 46 (2014): 313–332.

28 Ian Shapiro, “Enough of Deliberation: Politics is About Interests and Power,” in Deliberative Politics , ed. Macedo, 28–38.

29 Jane Mansbridge, James Bohman, Simone Chambers, et al., “The Place of Self-Interest and the Role of Power in Deliberative Democracy,” Journal of Political Philosophy 18 (1) (2010): 64–100.

30 Carolyn M. Hendriks, “Deliberative Governance in the Context of Power,” Policy and Society 28 (3) (2009): 173–184.

32 Jonathan W. Kuyper, “Deliberative Democracy and the Neglected Dimension of Leadership,” Journal of Public Deliberation 8 (1) (2012).

33 Jennifer Dodge, “Environmental Justice and Deliberative Democracy: How Social Change Organizations Respond to Power in the Deliberative System,” Policy and Society 28 (3) (2009): 225–239.

34 See Mansbridge et al., “The Place of Self-Interest and the Role of Power in Deliberative Democracy.”

35 Iris Marion Young, “Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy,” in Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political , ed. Seyla Benhabib (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996), 120–135; and Aletta J. Norval, Aversive Democracy: Inheritance and Originality in the Democratic Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

36 John S. Dryzek and Simon J. Niemeyer, “Reconciling Pluralism and Consensus as Political Ideals,” American Journal of Political Science 50 (3) (2006): 634–649.

37 Carole Pateman, “Participatory Democracy Revisited,” Perspectives on Politics 10 (1) (2012): 8.

38 John S. Dryzek and Alex Y. Lo, “Reason and Rhetoric in Climate Communication,” Environmental Politics 24 (1) (2015): 1–16.

39 Pateman, “Participatory Democracy Revisited,” 10.

40 Lucio Baccaro, André Bächtiger, and Marion Deville, “Small Differences that Matter: The Impact of Discussion Modalities on Deliberative Outcomes,” British Journal of Political Science 46 (3) (2016).

41 Robert E. Goodin and Simon J. Niemeyer, “When Does Deliberation Begin? Internal Reflection versus Public Discussion in Deliberative Democracy,” Political Studies 51 (4) (2003): 627–649.

42 Bernard Manin, “On Legitimacy and Political Deliberation,” Political Theory 15 (3) (1987): 338–368.

43 See also Simon Niemeyer and John S. Dryzek, “The Ends of Deliberation: Metaconsensus and Intersubjective Rationality as Deliberative Ideals,” Swiss Political Science Review 13 (4) (2007): 497–526.

44 Simon J. Niemeyer, “When Does Deliberation Really Begin?” working paper series (Canberra, Australia: Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, 2016).

45 Cass R. Sunstein, “Deliberative Trouble: Why Groups Go to Extremes,” Yale Law Journal 110 (1) (2000): 71–119.

46 James Fishkin, When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 131–132.

47 Christopher F. Karpowitz, Raphael Chad, and Allen S. Hammond, “Deliberative Democracy and Inequality: Two Cheers for Enclave Deliberation among the Disempowered,” Politics & Society 37 (4) (2009): 576–615.

48 Kimmo Grönlund, Herne Kaisa, and Maija Setälä, “Does Enclave Deliberation Polarize Opinions?” Political Behavior 37 (4) (2015): 995–1020.

49 Arend Lijphart, Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1977).

50 Ian O’Flynn, “Divided Societies and Deliberative Democracy,” British Journal of Political Science 37 (4) (2007): 731–751.

51 Robert C. Luskin, Ian O’Flynn, James S. Fishkin, and David Russell, “Deliberating across Deep Divides,” Political Studies 62 (1) (2014): 117.

52 Bora Kanra, Islam, Democracy, and Dialogue in Turkey: Deliberating in Divided Societies (Aldershot, United Kingdom: Ashgate, 2009); and George Vasilev, Solidarity across Divides: Promoting the Moral Point of View (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015).

53 John S. Dryzek, “Handle with Care: The Deadly Hermeneutics of Deliberative Instrumentation,” Acta Politica 40 (2) (2005): 197–211; and Selen A. Ercan, Carolyn M. Hendriks, and John Boswell, “Studying Public Deliberation After the Systemic Turn: The Crucial Role for Interpretive Research,” Politics & Policy 45 (2) (2017): 195–218.

54 Laura W. Black, Stephanie Burkhalter, John Gastil, and Jennifer Stromer-Galley, “Methods for Analyzing and Measuring Group Deliberation,” in The Sourcebook of Political Communication Research: Methods, Measures, and Analytical Techniques , ed. R. Lance Holbert (New York: Routledge, 2009), 323–345.

55 See, for example, Katharina Holzinger, “Kommunikationsmodi und Handlungstypen in den Internationalen Beziehungen. Anmerkungen zu einigen irreführenden Dichotomien,” Zeitschrift Für Internationale Beziehungen 8 (2) (2001): 243–286; Steiner et al., Deliberative Politics in Action ; and Niemeyer, “The Emancipatory Effect of Deliberation.”

56 Carolyn M. Hendriks, “Praxis Stories: Experiencing Interpretive Policy Research,” Critical Policy Analysis 1 (3) (2007): 278–300.

57 John Boswell, Carolyn M. Hendriks, and Selen A. Ercan, “Message Received? Examining Transmission in Deliberative Systems,” Critical Policy Studies 10 (3) (2016): 263–283; and Ercan et al., “Studying Public Deliberation After the Systemic Turn.”

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Democracy faces an existential crisis, with widespread public dissatisfaction (see Global Satisfaction with Democracy 2020) and the rise of authoritarian regimes ‘characterized by increasing executive power, erosion of democratic norms, and a general tendency toward less freedom’ (Democracy Report 2021). More ...

Keywords : Learning for Democracy, Crisis of Democracy, Authoritarian Regimes, Norms, Future of Democracy

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Democracy and the question of its feasibility in africa.

• Mamoudou Gazibo Mamoudou Gazibo Department of Political Science, University of Montreal
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.702
• Published online: 26 March 2019

Until the end of the 1980s, most observers believed that democratic prospects in Africa were limited, given the low level of economic development, the absence of strong nation-states, and the inexistence of a long history of social and political pluralism. However, beginning in 1989, a wave of popular protests demanding democratic reforms swept the continent. Within a couple of years, virtually all the countries liberalized their political systems. Since then, Africans have shown consistently that they strongly prefer and support democratic rule. At the same time, democratic institutions such as electoral commissions and constitutional courts have taken root on the continent. These developments suggest that the question of the feasibility of democracy in Africa is no longer relevant. Nonetheless, the existence of democratic demands, support, and institutions does not mean that democracy is easy to establish and consolidate. In many African countries, democratic gains are reversible and face several hindering factors, including state weakness, autocratic mindset, unstable and divided civic and political organizations, and widespread identity politics. This is why the level and quality of democracy on the African continent vary dramatically from country to country and from one region to another.

• African politics
• democratization
• constitutional courts
• electoral commissions
• popular protest
• civil society

Introduction

Arguments that tend to limit the feasibility of democracy in some parts of the world do not stand historical scrutiny. In Western Europe, in effect, the minimal preconditions supposedly necessary for democratic opening were not met when it happened. (Hermet, 1996 , p. 96)

Democracies are not likely to appear more orderly, consensual, stable, or governable than the autocracies they replace. . . . These products of imposition or compromise are often initially quite ambiguous in nature and uncertain in effect until actors have learned how to use them. (Schmitter & Karl, 1991 , p. 85–86)

Democracy and the institutional forms it takes in the world today are the product of a specific historical experience. Representative democracy in particular, defined in procedural terms as a method of selection, through elections, of the people entitled to govern (Schumpeter, 1942 ), is an English model that became Europeanized and universalized either by diffusion or by imposition. Until the end of the 1960s, democratic institutions were generally found only in Western countries. Because these countries share some characteristics such as a high level of economic development, the consolidation of a strong nation-state, and a long tradition of social and political pluralism, it seemed obvious to scholars at the time that democracy was possible only in advanced industrial countries where national unity and other socioeconomic and cultural conditions were already met (Dahl, 1971 ; Lipset, 1959 ; Rustow, 1970 ).

However, in the 1970s and 1980s, following the Revolution of the Carnations in Portugal, a wave of democratization swept several authoritarian countries in Southern Europe and Latin America (O’Donnell & Schmitter, 1986 ). The wave became global in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War and the democratic experiments launched in Eastern Europe and Africa (Bratton & van de Walle, 1992 , 1997 ; Huntington, 1991 ; Przeworski, 1991 ). Because these countries lack the socioeconomic and historical conditions presented as prerequisites by the former structural theories, these theories lost their explanatory power. This means that the question is no longer the possibility of democracy in some specific contexts but what makes it happen, endure, or abort. While some structural factors continue to weaken the prospects of democratic consolidation, most observers consider, given the empirical experiences, that the installation and endurance of democracy are more strongly correlated with actors’ volition and interactions and the institutional settings in which they take place (Bunce, 2000 ; O’Donnell & Schmitter, 1986 ).

Building on this theoretical assumption and using selective issues and cases, my argument in this article is that the idea of democracy, if not democracy itself, has now firmly taken root even in Africa’s least free countries. There are many reasons for this, among which the most important are the existence of democratic demands, the enlargement of the public space, the democratization of African societies, civic engagement, and the emergence of an institutional infrastructure illustrated notably by the growing relevance of the rule of law. These configurations vary, however, from one country to another, and democracy entrenchment on the African continent continues to depend also on the capacity to address several hindering structural and contingent obstacles.

Demand for Democracy

That democracy is possible in Africa is a truism for any observer of the continent’s political dynamics. In effect societal demands and mobilizations for political opening on the continent were old although unsuccessful until the end of the Cold War, which created a favorable international environment for domestic democracy activists (Cheeseman, 2015 , p. 86). This is important because, as Tocqueville points out, democracy hardly happens and endures without popular demand and support and civic engagement.

It is true that the founding literature posits that transitions in Southern Europe and Latin America were primarily internal and elite-driven processes. Nonetheless, on the one hand, a fair number of studies concentrate on mass mobilization as the key factor explaining political opening. Paul Collier ( 1999 ), analyzing 27 cases of transitions with a focus on labor movements, agrees with Samuel Valenzuela ( 1989 ) that these movements frequently serve as proxy political actors for banned opposition parties or international actors. They can also open the floor to public protest for other sectors of civil society or provide channels for ordinary citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the regime. In the same vein, Elisabeth Wood ( 2000 ) claims that mobilization by subordinate social actors in some circumstances may be crucial to the success of democratic transitions. Her analysis of El Salvador and South Africa found that mobilization by the economically and socially marginalized impelled the transition to democracy by transforming key interests of the economic elites. This led to pressure on the government to compromise with the opposition, thereby strengthening regime moderates over hardliners and forcing the initial liberalization of the regime.

Most interestingly, even the Spanish case, which has often been stereotyped as a typical example of an elite-dominated transition, has been revisited in order to make arguments to reassess the importance of civil society (Hamann, 1998 ). Monica Threlfall ( 2008 ) considers, for example, that the Spanish transition was the result of a difficult “co-construction process” between regime and opposition and argues that the widespread actions of civil society organizations were the real cause of the failure of Navarro’s government and of his forced resignation.

Even in communist transitions, White, Gardner, Schopflin, and Saich ( 1990 ) point out that, in instances where the ruling groups were reluctant to reform, like in Czechoslovakia, it was popular protest that initiated the transitions. Valerie Bunce ( 2000 , pp. 709–710), goes as far as claiming that not only have most Eastern European transitions been initiated “from below” by the mobilization of grassroots forces, but their course was also largely determined by the strength and perseverance of these mobilized mass actors.

In Africa, civic engagement for freedom has existed since the colonial era. Several moments of popular demands for liberty can be conceived from a historical perspective (Seddon, 2002 ). According to Branch and Mampilly ( 2015 ), Africa has historically experienced two waves of protests prior to the Arab Spring. The first wave includes the nationalist protests of the 1950s. It refers to a set of uprisings against colonial rule in Africa which ended with the independence of almost all African countries by the mid-1960s. The second wave refers to protests centered in West Africa between the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. These protests were directed against both African regimes’ mismanagement and the austerity measures imposed upon African states by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They ultimately led to political liberalization and sometimes democratization in the continent in the early 1990s.

On the other hand, the end of the Cold War facilitated the first massive and sustained popular assaults against authoritarian strongholds across the continent since the 1960s. Authoritarian regimes lost their “godfathers” and faced the political conditionality policies imposed by the international financial institutions and Western democratic countries such as the United States, France, and Great Britain in Africa and elsewhere (Cheeseman, 2015 ; Whitehead, 2001 ). In some countries, like Benin, demands for more freedom were made well before these policies, but on the continental level, this favorable international environment encouraged citizens to engage in massive demonstrations for better economic and political governance. The result was decisive, given that from 1989 to 1994 , most sub-Saharan African countries liberalized their political systems. So, “while not unfolding uniformly and to the same extend everywhere, these movements and institutional rearrangements were evident to some degree in almost all African countries” (Bratton & van de Walle, 1997 , p. 3). The international context opened a window of opportunity, but democratic demands were made by African people. Benin is a perfect example of this period: it was the state’s bankruptcy that led to the establishment of a coalition of students and workers who took to the streets to demand better living conditions and, later, political change (Banégas, 2003 ; Gazibo, 2005 ).

Even in the North African Arab states, which have been presented as impenetrable frontiers for democracy before the 2010 revolts, numerous revolts have occurred previously. Throughout this period repeated popular protests against similar austerity measures were noticed across the subcontinent. This resistance was often characterized as “bread riots”—for example, in Egypt in 2004 , 2006 , and 2008 (Seddon & Zeilig, 2005 ; Thiriot, 2013 ). The year 2008 was already an important moment of mobilization fueled by hunger and youth unemployment all over the region and constituted a first test of the capacity of Arab societies to force their authoritarian regimes to reform.

This is why democratization scholars working on Africa have taken this issue extremely seriously. Some have observed that it is the distinctive character of popular protest movements demanding democracy in the beginning of the 1990s that differentiates Africa from the political change experiences of the 1970s and 1980s in Southern Europe and Latin America. Bratton and van de Walle ( 1997 ) found that in sub-Saharan Africa between 1988 and 1992 , of 42 out of 47 countries ruled by an authoritarian regime, 28 experienced popular mobilizations demanding democracy. Only in a tiny number of countries did the elites easily outmaneuver the fledgling mass mobilizations. Sub-Saharan Africa’s experience confirms the idea that democracy is produced by processes such as the formation of cross-class coalitions and the co-optation of previously autonomous leaders who then serve as intermediaries to excluded groups (Banégas, 2003 ; McAdam, Tarrow, & Tilly, 2001 ). Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa also demonstrate that mass protests can effectively destabilize authoritarian regimes precisely because the regime often employs a disproportionate level of violence against the protesters. Violence against peaceful protesters, they say, is likely to backfire, stimulating wider anti-regime mobilization, precipitating international sanctions and support for the opposition, and causing defections in security forces, which will be reluctant to fire on unarmed fellow citizens (Stephan & Chenoweth, 2008 ). So in Africa more than anywhere else, including 13th-century England where the Magna Carta was adopted by King John under the pressure of rebel barons, democratization is the product of popular demand.

As in England, frustrations remain important to understand the 1990 wave of mobilizations (Riley & Parfitt, 1994 ). Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson ( 2009 ) echoed Haggard and Kaufman ( 1995 ) when they found that increased economic inequality is a central factor in democratization because it fuels the risk of rebellion on the part of the population. In Africa, poor governance has been a source of weakness for authoritarian governments. One of the most recent examples is Tunisia, where the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, an itinerant trader whose merchandise had been taken away by the police, prompted a revolution in the small city of Sidi Bouzid. Bouazizi set free the frustrations of a population crushed by poverty, inequality, and oppression. So, rather than being obstacles to democratic opening, poverty and economic crisis have rather precipitated democratic demands coming from various groups in many African countries that lack the so-called prerequisites for democracy.

These political dynamics contradict the old structural explanations that see democracy as the consequence of economic development and political culture (Akindès, 1996 ; Mappa, 1995 ) since those political protests erupted in poor and bankrupt countries with no preexisting democratic culture. On the contrary, it confirms what observers of democratization in Latin America and elsewhere have noticed. For example, O’Donnell and colleagues ( 1986 ) have concluded that in Latin America and Southern Europe, democracy has been the product of actors’ interactions and institutional building. Di Palma ( 1990 ) supported the idea that democracy can be crafted in all sorts of contexts, including those supposedly structurally unfavorable, a position confirmed by some influential authors who have demonstrated how economic crisis has precipitated authoritarian withdrawal in several countries in Latin America and Africa (see in particular Haggard & Kaufman, 1995 , p. 26) and how democratization has been seen by African populations as an emancipatory project (Ake, 2000 ).

Support for Democracy

Liberalization does not necessarily lead to the installation and durability of democracy. Some authors have argued that the overemphasis on elite agreements as a precondition to democratization is flawed and that such power-sharing agreements in fact favor the development of hybrid regimes rather than democracies (McFaul, 2002 , pp. 212–244). Most Eastern European transitions, for example, have not only been initiated “from below” by the mobilization of grassroots forces but were also largely determined by the strength and perseverance of these mobilized mass actors (Bunce, 2000 , pp. 709–710). This means that democracy has a better chance to grow, survive, and consolidate in countries where societal groups—not only the elite—have internalized democratic values or, at least, value democratic ideas, principles, and procedures and are ready to fight for them.

There are many reasons to believe that democracy has a good chance to endure in Africa. We explore two strategic factors here. The first is the opening of the public space and the proliferation, following the liberalization of the 1990s, of numerous non-governmental and civil society organizations. The second is the transformation of African societies which, in several countries, are more democratic than the political superstructure.

Certainly the concept of civil society is controversial in nature, and its application in Africa is highly debated. Even the founding figures of the concept do not agree on its definition and political role. For example, John Locke goes as far as considering that it is civil society that defines the nature and principles of government. Hegel considers civil society and government as two bodies that influence each other but sees civil society as performing essentially economic duties. Montesquieu and Tocqueville are more interesting because of their interactionist views. Relations between civil society’s groups, or associations, and government can be sometimes cooperative and sometimes conflictual (seen Harbeson, 1994 , pp. 15–20). Many scholars interested in African democratization have an idealistic view of these groups. They tend to consider that civil society exists only if one can identify civic groups separate from the state and formed by persons acting against the government for the sole promotion of democratic ideals. From this perspective they maintain that civil society exists and may help democracy survive in Africa.

My argument here is that this way of laying out the debate does not capture the historical struggles for democracy, the nature of these groups, and how they are connected to democratization. On the one hand, a more pragmatic, dynamic, and contextualized conceptualization of African civil society organizations is necessary. Civil society organizations that emerged after 1990 are the product of specific state–society relations on the continent since the 1960s and the wave of independence. Throughout the two following decades, African governments concentrated and elaborated state power via single parties, the development of administrative infrastructure, and coercive apparatus in particular (Chazan, Lewis, Mortimer, Rothchild, & Stedman, 1999 , pp. 46–64). They succeeded in emasculating civil society organizations. But their desire to become integral states was far from being achieved (Young, 1994 ), and by the 1980s, although precarious, the balance between state and society (Chazan, 1988 ) began to be altered and state power altered because “most, if not all, African states were undergoing an organizational crisis” (Chazan, Lewis, Mortimer, Rothchild, & Stedman, 1999 , p. 65). So throughout the 1980s, various forms of civic engagement labeled as “politics from below” (Bayart, Mbembe, & Toulabor, 1992 ) or democratic struggles coming from the left (Anyang’ Nyong’o, 1987 ) erupted on the continent. By the end of the decade, contestation became widespread. Many African civil society organizations involved in these protests emerged out of state structures, particularly the single party where it existed. Some authors go as far as arguing that state and society were not antagonistic in authoritarian Africa, but co-authored the reproduction of domination (Mbembe, 2001 ). So from the beginning, some African civil society organizations have always been “uncivil” given their proximity with the state, and their demands were not necessarily political. In the 1980s, for example, protests were usually triggered by socioeconomic issues. This doesn’t mean that their political impacts were null. Political derision and “political poaching” helped erode and delegitimize authoritarian regimes (Toulabor, 1981 ), and probably contributed to paving the way for the 1990s uprisings.

On the other hand, civic engagement in Africa takes various forms, like public expenditure tracking, citizen monitoring of service delivery, participatory policymaking and budgeting, the boosting of awareness regarding legal rights, and citizen involvement in public commissions and advisory boards (Sarker & Hassan, 2010 ). Thus, civic engagement in Africa has a direct as well as indirect relation to the maintenance of democracy. Many actions civic organizations are involved in, political or not, force incumbent governments to have a more cautious governance style. Overt political struggle happened, for example, in South Africa from 2015 to 2017 with the “Zuma must fall” campaign, involving thousands of people in nation-wide marches in order to force President Jacob Zuma to resign after a series of financial scandals. In Mali in 2017 , the president was forced to abandon the referendum he planned to hold in order to strengthen his powers after months of mass mobilizations involving civic and political organizations opposed to the project. Even in more authoritarian countries, like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), although the presidents are still in power as of this writing, they face pervasive and nation-wide protests despite state violence that killed hundreds of people and forced thousands into exile.

Civic struggles are sometimes non-political, but with political consequences. This is the case of organization-monitoring groups interested in oil and mineral exploitation in Chad, Niger, DRC, and other countries. These groups are usually parts of an international web of organizations. This is the case of “publish what you pay” in Niger, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) linked to the initiative for transparency in the extractive industries, which monitor the governance of the natural resources sector and put the country under international scrutiny. These organizations are also involved in coalitions of local NGOs dealing with other issues such as corruption or abusive governmental policies in the social sphere.

The democratization of African societies is the second strategic reason to believe in the future of democracy on the continent. Any evaluation of the prospects of democracy in Africa must distinguish between two levels of democracy: that of the state and that of the society. African societies are much more democratic than their institutions, and this gap cannot be maintained in the long run.

As the literature contends, following Max Weber’s typology of domination, the most solid pillar of any regime is not force but legitimacy. In this line of thought, Adam Przeworski ( 1991 ) argues that democracy is consolidated when it becomes “the only game in town,” that is, when citizens come to see it as the only acceptable political system. If this is true, then the prospects for democracy are good in Africa, even in the countries currently classified as not free countries (Freedom House, 2018 ). Thus, most democracy deficiencies observable on the continent are related to the institutional superstructure. African societies demonstrate clear democratic maturity during electoral cycles unless they are politically instrumentalized, like in Kenya. For example, despite what the literature posits about the limits clientelism and neopatrimonialism put on African democracies (Bach & Gazibo, 2012 ; van de Walle, 2003 ), at least a dozen countries manage to organize free and fair elections and maintain peace. This is the case in Benin. As Banegas ( 1998 , p. 75) puts it, politicians distribute money to voters during electoral campaigns, but voters vote for the candidate of their choice in the end.

Democracy is also strengthened when people internalize it and value it. As the Afrobarometer surveys demonstrate, Africans are not so different from other people around the world when it comes to the degree to which they value democratic ideals and principles. The proportion of respondents who know democracy or value it more than alternative systems like military rule is so high that, as early as 2001 , two prominent Afrobarometer authors wrote on what they called “Africa’s Surprising Universalism” (Bratton & Mattes, 2001 ). In another survey, the same authors concluded that “[o]n average across the continent, Africans support democracy as a preferred type of political regime. Large majorities also reject alternative authoritarian regimes such as presidential dictatorship, military rule, and one-party government” (Mattes & Bratton, 2016 , p. 2). The consequence of the disjunction between state and society is the frequent eruption of popular demonstrations demanding political reforms. The ignorance of the transformations affecting African societies explains why many observers were surprised by the outburst of popular uprisings against long-standing autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, and, more recently, Burkina Faso. The latter country offers a very good example of the way the continuous erosion of the political basis of a regime reinforces not only the possibility of mobilization of a society eager to gain its freedom but the downfall of the strongman. Many observers who have concentrated only on the November 2014 popular revolution seem to have been taken by surprise by the way events unfolded and how quickly the regime collapsed. But those who witnessed the 1999 and 2011 revolts, followed year after year by the resignation of the regime’s prominent figures, were not.

In addition to these two strategic factors, a third refers to the densification of the institutional infrastructure. In almost all African countries, governments are more or less limited in their arbitrary appetite by a web of institutions, among which are electoral commissions and constitutional courts, which succeed in enforcing constitutional and electoral principles in several countries.

Institutionalization of Democracy

Until 1990 , constitutional frameworks in Africa—if existing at all—were generally considered as mere juridical facades (Jackson & Rosberg, 1982 ; Prempeh, 2006 , p. 10). But the democratic wave that swept the continent in the 1990s was followed by a new era of constitutionalism. This process gained momentum and the establishment of constitutional courts became, along with that of electoral commissions in particular, one of the most important innovations and normative battles between political elites (Gazibo, 2006 ). Yet one may question the role of such developments for the promotion of democracy in these polities where big man mindset, clientelistic politics, and political manipulation of the judicial apparatus (van de Walle, 2003 ) have become part of the political culture. However, if these institutions remain mere facades in some countries, they have acquired strength and relevance in many others.

First, constitutional courts are good examples of how institutional density and strength, along with civic engagement and entrenchment of democratic values, foster the prospects of democracy in some African states (VonDoepp, 2018 ). While early studies have already recognized the explicit “political nature” of courts, notably by examining the role the U.S. Supreme Court played in American politics (Casper, 1976 ; Dahl, 1957 ; Gates, 1992 ; Rosenberg, 2001 ), more recent contributions of scholars and policymakers (the World Bank, for example) have increasingly explored the role courts play in the democratization process of developing countries. More specifically, legal scholars and political scientists alike have come to acknowledge that explanations of politics are incomplete unless they incorporate courts (Cappelletti, 1989 ; Gazibo, 2005a ; Jacob, Blankenburg, Kritzer, Provine, & Sanders, 1996 ).

The primary purpose of constitutional courts is to oversee and to constrain the exercise of political power by legislative majorities or government agencies (Vanberg, 2001 ). Such oversight is threefold: (1) in making political powerholders accountable, and thus in ensuring transparency of the political process; (2) in obliging public officials to justify that their exercise of power is in accordance with their mandate; and (3) in imposing checks on government officials that violate the boundaries of their power or basic rights as defined by the constitution (Gloppen, Gargarella, & Skaar, 2004 ). By having “last licks” in controversial decisions, the court is also a political organ (Dahl, 1957 ) whose actions have a lasting impact on its respective democratic system.

The annulment by Kenya’s constitutional court of the 2017 presidential election won by sitting President Uhuru Kenyatta, which forced him to submit himself to a new electoral round, demonstrates the growing relevance of institutions in Africa. But it is probably in Niger that we find the most compelling illustration of the way a constitutional court can help a country stay on a democratic path. In 2009 , after two constitutional terms, then-President Mamadou Tandja tried to reform the constitution in order to remain in power. On June 12, the constitutional court decided that the referendum planned by the president in order to stay in power beyond the two terms specified by the constitution was unconstitutional and annulled it. The president then dismantled the constitutional court and parliament. But these dramatic measures only precipitated the outburst of massive opposition and civil society organizations’ protests and ultimately his ousting. Of course, such institutional stories are still rare, and African governments continue to seek chances to avoid compliance with the courts’ rulings, intimidate judges, or stack the courts’ composition in their favor (Gyimah-Boadi, 1998 ). However, the Nigerien experience confirms Vanberg’s ( 1999 ) proposition that courts possessing the power to annul legislation or administrative acts must frequently rely on the willingness of other branches (and allies in general) to lend force to their decisions. But these coalitions around courts prove in turn the growing relevance of institutions in Africa. In Niger, as political parties and civil society organizations supported by the international community—especially the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, France, and the United States—coalesced against President Mamadou Tandja and demanded the reinstallation of the court, he was overthrown by a military junta led by Major Djibo Salou on February 18, 2010 . A political transition with a civilian government was then initiated and a transitional constitutional court was created. Symbolically, the military appointed Fati Bazeye Salifou, dismissed by former president Mamadou Tandja in 2009 , as its chair. The process culminated with the election of a new president and his inauguration in April 2010 . A “regular” constitutional court was then reinstated. Since then, the decisions it has issued have been in favor or against both the incumbent and the opposition requests. However, the court has been accused by some opposition parties to collude with the regime, especially during the 2016 tense presidential election. Such mistrust suggests that the constitutional court’s legitimacy is still fragile.

More convincing cases where constitutional courts contribute clearly to democracy are South Africa (Sarkin, 1997 ) and Benin (Rotman, 2004 ). In South Africa, the judicial institutions became the main institutions guaranteeing the respect of constitutional principles, transparency, and defense of opposition rights during President Zuma’s second term given that his party, the African National Congress, is dominant in parliament. For example, in December 2017 , the South Africa High Court overruled President Zuma’s decision to appoint a new prosecutor by arguing that he “would be clearly conflicted in having to appoint a national director of public prosecutions, given [. . .] the many criminal charges against him that have not gone away” (Toyana, 2017 ). In Benin, where the constitutional court is in charge not only of settling constitutional disputes but also of protecting human rights, it became a popular institution to which ordinary citizens often address their complaints. One of the best examples happened in 2014 . When a minister declared during a TV program that the then-President Yayi Boni should be allowed to seek a third term and that a referendum should be organized to decide on the issue, ordinary citizens asked the court to declare unconstitutional such reform. The court ruled that the minister had violated the constitution and that the people of Benin had already decided on the issue by voting for the 1991 constitution (Kabre, 2014 ), preventing the country from engaging in a process such as the one that took place in Niger in 2009 .

Electoral commissions constitute the second institutional innovation that has acquired enormous influence in numerous African countries. Before 1990 , when elections were organized in Africa, they were usually “without choice” (Hermet, Rose, & Rouquié, 1978 ). Only in some countries (Botswana and Mauritius) were elections competitive and free. But since the liberalization in the 1990s, competitive elections are now held in almost all countries. Because opposition parties do not trust incumbent governments, they have fought against the old mode of election administration under the supervision of the interior ministry and demanded the institutionalization of separate electoral bodies. According to IDEA ( 2016 ), “essential elements” of these bodies include determining voter eligibility, receiving and validating nominations for parties and candidates, polling, and counting and tabulating votes cast. Additional functions may include voter registration, boundary delimitation, voter education and information, media monitoring, and electoral dispute resolution. While by 1999 , “of twenty advanced industrialized democracies, the governments—not independent commissions—are responsible for conducting the elections in fifteen, or 75 percent” (Pastor, 1999 , p. 77), in Africa by 2018 , of 54 countries, separate bodies are responsible for conducting the elections in 50, or 92.6%. The government conducts the elections in only four countries, or 7.4%. The reason separate electoral bodies are so popular is that the “ECs (electoral commissions) are not important in advanced democracies where people have confidence in the conduct of elections, but they are of central importance in countries where many people assume that the conduct of elections is manipulated to serve one party’s interests” (Pastor, 1999 , p. 78).

Electoral bodies do not necessarily prevent fraud or foster democratization (Adejumobi, 2000 ), but “[f]ree and fair elections cannot take place without a legitimate and transparent electoral administration” (Massicotte, Blais, & Yoshinaka, 2004 , p. 84; see also Elklit & Reynolds, 2002 ). To foster democratization, these bodies need to be inclusive and independent from government or even opposition parties and take their decisions autonomously (Gazibo, 2006 ; Mozzafar, 2002 ; Opitz, Fjelde, & Höglund, 2013 ). Autonomous commissions are not just separate bodies. They have inclusive membership, functional independence, and large control over the electoral process in terms of degree of influence over “rule-making, rule application, and rule adjudication” (Mozafar & Schedler, 2002 , p. 8).

According to these criteria, by 2017 there were autonomous commissions in Africa, more than any other type (Benin, Burkina, Botswana, Cabo Verde, CAR, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé,, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia; Gazibo, 2019 ). Other types of commissions include administrative boards (4), fake autonomous commissions (16), political commissions (5), and mixed commissions (1). If elections are usually fraudulent or disputed when organized by administrative and fake autonomous commissions, some countries with the two last types of commissions hold free and fair elections (Namibia and Mauritius, respectively, for example). Elections tend to be less problematic when organized by autonomous commissions. One of the best examples here is probably Ghana’s 1992 National Electoral Commission (NEC). It has seven members including a chair and two vice-chairs appointed by the president after consultation with the council of state. The seven members have permanent tenure of office and are subject to the same conditions of service as superior court judges (Gyima-Boadi, 1998 ). The NEC has full autonomy and control over the electoral process in terms of rule-making, rule application, and rule adjudication. Thanks to these powers, the commission has organized free elections in Ghana since 1992 and succeeded even in some very tense situations, such as the 2000 open-seat election won by the opposition candidate John Kufuor against the outgoing vice-president John Atta Mills; Ghana’s closest open-seat election of 2008 , won this time by Mills, who defeated Kuffor’s vice-president, Nana Akuffo-Addo; and more importantly, the 2016 election during which a challenger, Nana Akufo-Addo, defeated a sitting president, John Dramani Mahama. This is why Debrah ( 2011 ) claimed that the NEC has made “the electoral process transparent by fostering agreement on the rules of the game and asserting its autonomy.”

The same can be said of the electoral commission of South Africa established under chapter 9 of the 1996 constitution as “an institution that strengthens constitutional democracy in the Republic.” Its five members, of which one is a judge, are appointed by the president, but proposed by a panel of experts composed of representatives of the president of the Constitutional Court, the Human Rights Commission, the Commission on Gender Equality, and the Public Protector. The nominees of this panel of experts must be approved by a committee of the National Assembly and the majority of the members of the Assembly. The commissioners have a 7-year term of office, and their removal is only possible by the president upon approval of the majority of the members of the National Assembly. The commission itself, as in Ghana, has full control over the electoral process in terms of rule-making, rule application, and rule adjudication.

Since 1990 , elections have become an important component of African politics. Yet one must not overestimate the outcome of elections and electoral bodies. Bleck and van de Walle ( 2018 , p. 5) are right to observe that if “[s]ome elections have been free and fair and have been held in political systems with recognized civic and political rights [. . .], more elections have been manipulated by incumbent regimes and their presidents, who can leverage the advantage embedded in disproportionate executive power or, in some instances, act in a manner that is totally at odds with the procedures and spirit of democracy.” This means that an important gap persists between democratic demands and institutions and the consolidation of democracy on the continent.

Beyond Democratic Demand, Support, and Institutions: Addressing Hindering Factors

Democracy is possible in all sorts of contexts and thus is feasible in Africa. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that it is easy to install and consolidate, as demonstrated by the Freedom House data, which shows dramatic regional and country-to-country variation in the level and quality of democracy on the continent. Free and partly free countries are concentrated in western and southeastern Africa, while autocracies are still strongly entrenched in central and northern Africa (Freedom House, 2018 ). Moreover, on the one hand, even in the more opened African countries, democracy is likely to remain “with adjectives.” Many regimes will continue to be at best hybrid, delegative, and illiberal in the sense that they feature both democratic and authoritarian traits and remain inefficient and irresponsive to popular demands (Diamond, 2002 ; O’Donnell, 1994 ; Zakaria, 1997 ). Thus, even in countries where elections are free and fair, other aspects of the regime may remain defective (Merkel, 2004 ). On the other hand, several factors, some structural and others contingent, seriously hinder its prospects (see Beetham, 1994 , for a general discussion). This is why in addition to democratic demands, support, and institutions, democracy promotion in Africa requires that these hindering factors be addressed. Only a few of them are discussed briefly here.

First, state capacity, especially state effectiveness in the socioeconomic realm, is a crucial ingredient of democracy. Democracy can be crafted in (and even precipitated by) harsh socioeconomic factors, as was the case in Africa in the 1990s. However, as Max Weber has warned, democracy and poverty hardly go hand in hand. A functioning state is a precondition to resolving Africa’s problems of democracy (Linz & Stepan, 1996 ; Przeworski, Cheibub, Limongi, & Alvarez, 2000 ). Unfortunately, African states have generally fared quite badly in comparison with counterparts from other parts of the world and are among the weakest states. Scholars have described them as weak (Jackson & Rosberg, 1982 ; Rice & Patrick, 2008 ), as “criminal” (Bayart, Ellis, & Hibou, 1999 ), as being “in chaos” (Ayittey, 1998 ), or as having achieved a condition of “instrumentalized disorder” (Chabal & Daloz, 1999 ). In countries where the democratic process has been triggered by state bankruptcy, economic problems, if not addressed, are likely to constitute serious obstacles to its survival. As argued in Gazibo ( 2005b , 2012 ), Benin is an excellent illustration of the way the restoration of state capacities (via foreign aid) improved government’s ability to fulfill its basic tasks like paying civil servants’ salaries and keeping the army in its barracks. In turn, they were able to prevent social unrest and possible democratic breakdown. This is unfortunately not the case in many countries. One of the difficulties for democracy promotion in Africa is that, as Claude Ake ( 1994 ) lamented very early, what one is witnessing in even the so-called “success stories” can be characterized as the “democratization of disempowerment”—a process whereby newly installed multiparty systems merely allow rotating and competing portions of ruling elites to exploit the vast majority of Africa’s largely rural populations, who continue to remain disempowered from their respective political systems.

Second, democracy is a matter of a balance of power between actors. Thus, to be implemented and consolidated, it is crucial that those in favor of this system prevail. The attitude of regime elites toward liberalization and the cohesion of the ruling bloc are crucial factors that cannot be overlooked in any account of democratization. It is highly unlikely that a regime that is still in full possession of its coercive capability agrees to relinquish power solely because of popular protest (Hyug-Baeg, 1997 ), as Burundi and DRC demonstrate. Recent scholarship on the involvement of the military in democratic transitions tends to confirm this point of view, suggesting that many transitions “from below” were possible thanks to an important split within the authoritarian regime between the ruling clique and its coercive apparatus (McGowan, 2003 , p. 339; Morency-Laflamme, 2018 ). As Bratton and van de Walle ( 1997 ) and Way ( 2011 ) have argued, more often than not, autocrats let go of power not because they want to, but because key political, economic, and military allies force them to give up after deciding that the regime is no longer worth supporting. In the spirit of O’Donnell and Schmitter ( 1986 ), leaders who can keep the support of crucial elites are likely to survive crises even in the face of overwhelming protest in the streets (Bellin, 2012 ; Way, 2011 ). This autocratic mindset explains why, beginning in 1993 and the military coup in Burundi, the democratization process has significantly stalled and, in some cases, has been reversed as soon as incumbents or hardliners regained strength. Given the presidential and patrimonial nature of African regimes (van de Walle, 2003 ), the two-terms-limit provision introduced in almost all the constitutions in the early 1990s, for example, has been abandoned in a dozen countries, a reform that precludes any chance of power alternation and weakens democratic prospects. The same can be said of electoral rules some incumbent governments change often in order to destabilize their opposition and suppress any uncertainty about who will be elected (Schmitter & Karl, 1991 , p. 10).

Third, at the society level, even though there exist both demand and support for democracy, to be efficient, civic and opposition groups need to share some basic ideas and establish a minimum of coordination among them in order to counterbalance any authoritarian project—a suggestion made long ago by Barrington Moore ( 1966 ), who explained the origins of democracy by class alliances that restrict the arbitrary power of the governing elites. Many authors contend that the success or failure of the protest/political reform cycle depends importantly on the character and composition of the opposition movement, of which the relative strength and cohesion of political coalitions within the protesters are of primary importance. Bratton and van de Walle ( 1997 ), for example, argue that opposition groups must be able to forge an alternative ruling coalition with an articulate political program. This is particularly difficult in many African countries given the weakness and ideological divisions between civic and political groups, as the situation prevailing in DRC, for example, demonstrates. In that country, opposition forces are so fragmented that President Kabila easily managed to stay in power beyond the end of his second term in 2016 . Cameroon, Gabon, and Togo are other examples of how the division of opposition groups weakens them and helps long-standing presidents to remain in power.

Finally, the “national unity” precondition for democracy suggested long ago by Dankwart Rustow ( 1970 ) is still not met in many African countries. Although the ethnicity factor plays differently from one country to another, with many multi-ethnic countries like Benin or Ghana managing to organize peaceful multiparty elections, it is generally recognized that ethnic divisions make it harder to install and consolidate democracy (Beetham, 1994 ; Berman, Kymlicka, & Eyoh, 2004 ). The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the electoral conflict in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria, or the violent ethnic clashes in Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, and Ethiopia, among others, demonstrate how difficult it is to install stable liberal democracies in many ethnically divided countries. When the ethnic factor is so salient in a country, it raises another question, which is the possibility to implement the one-man, one-vote democratic system. The problem here is that few institutional innovations are imagined given the standard understanding of democracy in its liberal Western style. In Burundi, where a form of consociational arrangement was attempted, it aborted, suggesting that the interest and commitment of African decision-makers to adapt democracy to the specific context of each country is weak.

Africa has for long been considered as one of the thick frontiers democracy cannot cross. However, in 1990 in most of the sub-Saharan countries, and in 2010 in the Arab countries, mass mobilizations demanding freedom were organized. The political picture in Africa in the early 21st century is very different from what it was prior to these demands. On the one hand, regimes now range from free to partly free to not free, according to Freedom House ratings. On the other hand, African societies value and support democratic values and ideals in huge proportions according to Afrobarometer surveys. In addition, many countries are now strongly institutionalized, respect the rule of law, organize free and fair elections, and witness power alternations. However, almost all of these countries, democratic or not, continue to face several constraining factors. What lessons can we draw from this multifaceted situation?

First, as the two authors cited at the beginning of this article argue, it appears that there is no precondition—economic, cultural, or historical—to democracy in Africa, a position confirmed by the empirical transformations in many countries. This means that rather than asking if democracy is feasible on the continent, we must explore what facilitates and constrains it.

Second, the feasibility of democracy does not mean that it will appear and endure automatically. To happen and to be secured, democracy needs, on the one hand, civic groups who are eager to demand and support it until it is institutionalized to a point where institutions constrain actors’ behavior. On the other hand, this process needs to be accompanied by actions aimed at mitigating the numerous obstacles that hinder its prospects.

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Vanderbilt Unity Poll explains why democracy may take center stage in this week’s presidential debate—and the campaign more broadly

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Jun 25, 2024, 9:25 AM

The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy released national polling results measuring Americans’ unity and beliefs on government and democracy. 

As the nation approaches the first presidential debate of 2024, the state of U.S. democracy is expected to be one of its major issues. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump paint very different portraits of America and the future of democracy, and the latest Vanderbilt Unity Poll shows why these contenders are putting forth these assessments: The public expresses widespread concern about the state of democracy and our Constitution.

The poll asked about the public’s assessment of our democracy and the Constitution, and nearly half of respondents (49 percent) said they felt American democracy is under attack.

This sentiment was stronger among Republicans, with 53 percent expressing this view, including 78 percent of those who lean toward MAGA. It appears that Trump’s claims of a stolen 2020 election and politically motivated felony convictions are resonating with his core supporters.

Democrats reported a more positive outlook, with 35 percent viewing democracy as under attack and 57 percent believing it is tested but not under attack.

The poll found similar patterns when asking instead about the Constitution, with 47 percent of respondents viewing the nation’s founding document as under attack: 70 percent of MAGA Republicans, 60 percent of Republicans overall and 36 percent of Democrats.

There was also consensus among Americans, regardless of party, about dissatisfaction with democracy. The poll found that 63 percent of those surveyed were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with how democracy functions, including 68 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Democrats.

“The American public is both worried about and dissatisfied with our democracy. It is no surprise that both likely presidential nominees have made this theme a centerpiece of their campaigns,” said John Geer , senior advisor to the chancellor and head of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy. “We can expect—in this week’s debate and the unfolding campaign—harsh and pointed exchanges on this central issue facing our country.”

In keeping with Vanderbilt’s commitment to researching free expression, Unity Polls have looked deeply into people’s perception of free speech and its importance to democracy. The poll used the same wording as a historic survey from 1939, when 86 percent of respondents said they believe it is impossible to have a democracy without free speech, and 7 percent answered that they didn’t know. Today’s results show little change from the survey conducted in 1939, showing about 90 percent holding that opinion. This continuity over 85 years underscores the nation’s enduring conviction that free speech is fundamental to democratic governance. Despite dramatic social, political and technological changes over the decades, this unwavering belief in the necessity of free speech reflects its foundational role in any democracy.

“These results show a consistent and steadfast belief in the essential role free speech plays in American democracy, but there’s more work to do,” said Jacob Mchangama , the founder and executive director of the Future of Free Speech. “Our challenge lies in bridging the divide between the theoretical support for free speech and a real-world tolerance for differing and controversial viewpoints.”

The Unity Poll continued on this theme to explore public opinion about whether free speech should ever be restricted or if certain subjects or speakers should be banned. The majority, 59 percent, expressed that free speech should be unfettered, allowing any subject or speaker at any time. However, a significant partisan divide emerged: 77 percent of MAGA-leaning Republicans and 70 percent of Republicans overall opposed any restrictions, and only 56 percent of Democrats held that view.

The public also shows a more nuanced view of free expression than many may expect. For example, there is more support for allowing a supporter of Palestine to speak on college campuses than for a leader of Hamas. It also appears that the many protests on college campuses this spring did not weaken the public’s commitment to free speech—if anything, these protests strengthened that belief.

SSRS conducted the Vanderbilt Unity Poll on its Opinion Panel Omnibus Platform. Between June 7 and June 10, 2024, 1,031 respondents, ages 18 and older responded across several platforms in Spanish and English. The poll has a margin of error of +/-3.5 at the 95% confidence level.

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Three years after police reforms, Black Bostonians report harassment and lack of trust at higher rates than other groups

A survey of Bostonians found wide disparities in the ways different racial groups experience their relationship with law enforcement, and negative interactions are also associated with trauma and chronic health conditions. 

Three years after sweeping law enforcement reforms were enacted in Boston to address long-standing concerns of unequal treatment, there is still a striking difference in the way Bostonians of different races experience their interactions with their city’s police force, according to new findings from a team of Harvard Kennedy School researchers. 

Not only did the research find large racial disparities in reports of police harassment and in trust in law enforcement, but it also showed a strong association between negative interactions with police and trauma and chronic health conditions.

The report was conducted by a research team at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program in Criminal Justice (PCJ) and was led by Sandra Susan Smith , the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice at HKS. Smith is faculty chair of PCJ and director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy .

The team surveyed a representative sample of 1,407 Boston residents—including 286 Black, 245 Latino, 143 Asian American and Pacific Islander, and 667 white residents—about their contact with, and trust in, law enforcement, and about the impacts that those encounters have on their lives and their communities. The survey was conducted in January and February of 2024.

The survey’s key findings include:

Black Bostonians report various types of police harassment at much higher rates than non-Black Bostonians.

In contrast to non-Black Bostonians, Black Bostonians feel a deep distrust towards law enforcement, and their distrust is strongly associated with experiences of police harassment.

More than half of Boston residents report that law enforcement has made their community feel safer, but rates vary by race/ethnicity and are informed by experiences of police harassment and harassment perceived to be racially motivated.

Among Bostonians, police harassment isn’t just predictive of distrust and feelings of community safety, it is also predictive of symptoms of trauma, especially so for Boston’s Black men.

For some Bostonians, most notably AAPI residents, police harassment and associated distrust and trauma symptoms are linked with chronic health conditions.

In June 2020, Boston’s then-mayor Marty Walsh formed a task force to review Boston Police policies and procedures. The move was part of a national reexamination of policing following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 and the wave of national protests and outrage that followed. The task force recommendations, ultimately accepted by the mayor, included expanding the use of body-worn cameras; diversifying the police force and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging; engaging officers in implicit-bias training; creating an independent oversight review board; and enhancing police use-of-force policies.

“All things considered, are there any signs to suggest that law enforcement officers treat Black residents of Boston the same as people from other racial and ethnic groups?” the report asks. “Based on results of analysis of these survey data, we have little reason to believe that Black Bostonians are treated the same as people from other racial and ethnic groups.

“Racial disparities in police harassment, including harassment perceived to be racially motivated, are large and consistent with police patterns and practices in Boston described by many in the Black community in the years and decades before George Floyd’s murder, during that year of global protest, and in the years since. It is unclear that reforms responding to Boston’s racial reckoning have done much to alter these very troubling and long-standing patterns.”

“The social costs associated with police harassment are far greater than we have imagined, extending well beyond penal system outcomes and distrust in law enforcement to include trauma and chronic health conditions.”

Sandra susan smith.

The survey also sought to measure the extent to which encounters with police were linked with mental health vulnerabilities. They asked respondents to remember an experience with police and then were asked the extent to which they agreed with a series of statements that might be indicative of trauma.

“Black Bostonians responded affirmatively to a greater number of these statements,” the report found. While, on average, Latinos, AAPI, and white Bostonians agreed with 1.1, 1,  and 1.2 statements affirmatively, Black residents responded yes to 1.8. “Further, it is not just that a significantly lower percentage of Black Bostonians responded ‘no’ to all the trauma statements—43% relative to 65%, 63%, and 51% of Latino, AAPI, and White residents, respectively—it is also that a significantly higher percentage of Black Bostonians responded ‘yes’ to between 3 and 6 statements—34% relative to 20% of the other racial/ethnic groups.”

“A growing body of research links aggressive policing to poor mental and physical health outcomes in communities targeted for such interventions,” according to the report. “In fact, in addition to mental health vulnerabilities like depression and PTSD-like symptoms, aggressive policing practices have been linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity/overweight.”

While the analysis “produced several statistically significant findings, they are not always in the direction we would predict, and the strongest associations are not necessarily for the groups we might expect.”

For example, “among Black Bostonians, self-reported high blood pressure is negatively associated with both racially motivated police harassment and distrust; a lower percentage of those who reported racially motivated police harassment and distrust also reported having high blood pressure. The opposite is true for AAPI residents, however; self-reported high blood pressure is positively associated not only with police harassment and racially motivated police harassment but also with trauma symptoms. Among Latino residents, distrust in the police is associated with high blood pressure as well.”

“As with prior research conducted in other cities, findings from this Boston-based study suggest that the social costs associated with police harassment are far greater than we have imagined, extending well beyond penal system outcomes and distrust in law enforcement to include trauma and chronic health conditions,” Smith said. “Thus, even while Boston should be celebrated for the low rates at which its residents die immediately after contact with law enforcement, we should acknowledge and address the extent to which the slow violence of police harassment and the trauma and chronic health conditions it produces diminishes both the quality and likely the length of Bostonians’ lives, especially so for Bostonians of color, and particularly for its Black residents.” 

_ Photography Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.

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In the UK, dissatisfaction with economy, democracy is widespread ahead of election

Voters in the United Kingdom head to the polls on July 4 for the country’s first general election since 2019. Ahead of the election, Britons see the state of the UK in relatively bleak terms.

No major political party receives a favorable rating from a majority of the British public. Few think the nation’s economy is in good shape. And people are more dissatisfied than satisfied with the state of democracy in their country, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 1,o17 British adults, conducted Jan. 11-March 9, 2024. (The survey was conducted before British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak officially called for an election .)

This Pew Research Center analysis examines how people in the United Kingdom view the country’s major political parties, its economic situation and the way democracy is functioning.

Data comes from a survey of 1,017 adults in the UK conducted by random-digit dial from Jan. 11-March 9, 2024. The survey is weighted to be representative of the adult population in the UK with the following variables: gender, age, education, region and probability of selection of respondent.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Views of several major political parties have become more negative in recent years

None of the four major British political parties we asked about in our survey – the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative Party and Reform UK – receive net positive ratings from the British public.

• The Labour Party is seen most favorably at 47%, though this is down somewhat from 54% favorable last year.
• The Liberal Democrats get positive ratings from around four-in-ten Britons (38%). Again, this is down from 48% last year.
• The Conservative Party, which has governed the UK since 2010, is broadly unpopular. Only around three-in-ten British adults (29%) have a favorable view of the governing party. While largely unchanged since last year, views of the Tories are less positive than in 2021 and 2020, when about four-in-ten Britons saw them favorably.
• The only party that enjoys more favorable ratings now than in the recent past is Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party. While only 31% have a favorable view of the party led by Nigel Farage , this is up 8 percentage points since 2022. It also marks the first time in our surveys that about equal shares have a favorable view of Reform UK and the Conservative Party (31% vs. 29%).

Growing share have unfavorable views of both the Labour and Conservative parties

This year, 35% of Britons have unfavorable views of both the Labour and Conservative parties. This is up 7 points since last year and has nearly doubled since the fall of 2020, when 19% had unfavorable views of both of the country’s dominant parties.

By way of comparison, this is also higher than the 28% of Americans who had unfavorable views of both the Republican and Democratic parties in 2023.

Most who identify with Conservative or Labour parties see their own party favorably

In the UK, people who identify with the Conservative Party are, unsurprisingly, more likely to have a favorable view of the party (74%) than those who identify with Labour (13%) or who say they do not feel close to any party (25%). But even among people who identify as Conservatives, the share who have a favorable view of their party has fallen in recent years. In 2020, 89% had a positive view.

Labour Party supporters, for their part, are more likely than Conservatives to have a positive view of their own party: 87% do. And the share who feel this way has been largely consistent in recent years.

Only about 1 in 5 say the UK’s economic situation is good

Few in the UK (22%) think their country’s economy is in good shape. With 78% saying it’s in poor shape, Britons are more negative about their country’s economy than people in most of the other countries we surveyed this year .

Conservative Party supporters (27%) are more likely than Labour Party supporters (18%) to think the economy is in good shape – as is often the case with members of a country’s governing party or coalition, according to our research. But even among Conservatives, positive views of the economy have fallen sharply in the last three years.

Fewer than half are satisfied with the way UK democracy is working

Today, more in the UK are dissatisfied than satisfied with the state of their country’s democracy (60% vs. 39%). As recently as 2021, 60% of British adults were satisfied with their democracy.

Conservative Party supporters are more likely than Labour Party supporters to be satisfied with democracy in their country (55% vs. 40%). Once again, we’ve found this is common for supporters of a country’s governing party .

But Conservative Party supporters are much less satisfied today than they were a few years ago, when around three-quarters or more were happy with the way democracy was working in the UK.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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Laura Silver is an associate director focusing on global attitudes at Pew Research Center .

Ratings of the EU remain broadly positive in member countries, but have gone down slightly since 2022

Most people in taiwan see themselves as primarily taiwanese; few say they’re primarily chinese, many countries in europe get a new government at least every two years, turnout in u.s. has soared in recent elections but by some measures still trails that of many other countries, populists in europe – especially those on the right – have increased their vote shares in recent elections, most popular.

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