Democratic Innovations: An Introduction
One way to address the growing dissatisfaction of citizens with representative democracy was the adoption and use of democratic innovations. Direct democracy and dialogue-oriented procedures gained momentum as they provide citizens a say in the decision-making and will formation process. At the same time, they are criticized for their faults such as leaving room for populism and low level of competence. This course will identify the major theoretical and empirical developments and challenges of direct and deliberative democracy with a focus on their functioning and consequences.

​

​

Democratic innovations and direct democracy
The seminar will start with a short history of direct democracy and then proceed to debate about the different types and typologies. The developments of direct democratic rules in selected countries will be introduces as well as the current situation worldwide (as far as possible on national and subnational level). The seminar will then inform about the use of direct democratic rules in several countries (national and the subnational level).  Finally we will discuss empirical findings on effects of direct democratic procedures, e.g. on policies and on citizens’ political attitudes.

​
 

Do citizens really want democratic innovations?
Over the last decades, citizens have become more critical about the way representative democracy is working. Many have assumed that these critics were associated to demands for democratic innovations in the direction of more citizens’ participation. However, over the last decade, the academic debate has developed. Some have started to question whether, indeed, citizens were calling for more participation. The course would come back to these debates about how citizens want contemporary democracies to be reformed. And it would from there develop a discussion about the compatibility of different types of democratic innovations.

​

Democratic innovations and deliberative mini-publics
Deliberative democratic theory has made an empirical turn in the last ten years, as deliberative mini-publics are increasingly used as vehicles to empirically test theoretical claims. In this seminar, we will deal with several aspects of mini-publics. First of all, we will look at the design of mini-publics and the effect of design choices. Secondly, we will critically analyze the role deliberative mini-publics can, should and do play in the wider deliberative and political system. Finally, we will look at the limitations of mini-public research, and try to offer some way of mediating the problems related to the use of mini-publics. Each aspect will be illustrated with real world cases and will be based on the most recent academic work.

 

​

Deliberative mini-publics in practice
The lecture will address the most important practical issues in the organization of deliberative mini-publics. Proceeding in three steps, we will focus on the preparation, the conduction and the follow-up of the process. Thereby, we deal first with the participant selection and agenda setting, secondly with the deliberation and inter-participant relations, and thirdly with the relation to the macro-public. The content will be guided by empirical evidence and observed experiences from the G1000 in Belgium (2012), the Citizen Climate Parliament of the Province of Luxembourg (2015) and the Citizen Conference on Educational Reform of the French-speaking Community in Belgium (2016).

​

​

Democratic Innovations in the European Union
This course will explore the emergence and impact of several democratic innovations which aim to increase and deepen citizen participation in the European political process. It will focus on the ways in which such innovations may diminish the democratic deficit in the EU, their forms, main challenges and important consequences. The topic will cover deliberative and direct democracy attempts in the EU with particular emphasis on the European Citizen's Initiative (ECI).