Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century

Hélène Landemore

Published by Princeton University Press 2020

Open Democracy

Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century

Hélène Landemore

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691208725

Overview
Contents

About this book

How a new model of democracy that opens up power to ordinary citizens could strengthen inclusiveness, responsiveness, and accountability in modern societies

To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people—with the right suit, accent, wealth, and connections—are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the lost openness of ancient democracies, Open Democracy presents a new paradigm of democracy in which power is genuinely accessible to ordinary citizens.

Hélène Landemore favors the ideal of “representing and being represented in turn” over direct democracy approaches. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, Landemore recommends centering political institutions around the “open mini-public”—a large, jury-like body of randomly selected citizens gathered to define laws and policies for the polity, in connection with the larger public. She also defends five institutional principles as the foundations of an open democracy: participatory rights, deliberation, the majoritarian principle, democratic representation, and transparency.

Open Democracy demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, today more than ever, urgently needed.

Author / Editor information

Hélène Landemore is associate professor of political science at Yale University. She is the author of Democratic Reason (Princeton) and Hume. Twitter @landemore

Reviews

"Open Democracy offers an innovative and exciting approach to politics. It adds a distinct perspective to the literature and engages in questions that have largely been taken for granted."—Ryan Muldoon, author of Social Contract Theory for a Diverse World

"Engaging a wide range of contemporary literature and prominent debates, Open Democracy makes an important and truly original contribution to democratic theory and practice. Landemore presents a new and radical view of the direction we should be headed in reforming, renovating, and rethinking our democratic institutions."—Simone Chambers, University of California, Irvine

"Open Democracy envisions what true government by mass leadership could look like. Her model is based on the simple idea that, if government by the people is a goal, the people ought to do the governing."---Nathan Heller, New Yorker

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Prologue Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. The Crisis of Representative Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. The Myth of Direct Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4. Legitimacy and Representation beyond Elections (Part One) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
5. Legitimacy and Representation beyond Elections (Part Two) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
6. The Principles of Open Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
7. Let the People In! Lessons from a Modern Viking Saga Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
8. On the Viability of Open Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
9. Conclusion: Open Democracy in a Global World Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239