Books & ideas

Where can Democracies Deliberate?

Pierre-Étienne Vandamme — 2024-01-25T08:51:00Z

How can the ideal of deliberative democracy be put into practice? A collective work analyses the “deliberative turn” in theories of democracy and outlines pathways for how deliberation could be implemented in mass democracies where public opinion continues to be shaped by the media and political parties.

French MPs on the Fringes

Rémi Lefebvre — 2022-11-09T09:00:00Z

The 2017 legislative election, which resulted in a landslide victory for La République en Marche, brought up the question of change in the political profession. Étienne Ollion shows that the National Assembly under Macron has done little to renew political practices, often sidelining newly elected members.

The Oligarchs' Charter

Timothy Kuhner — 2020-10-20T07:00:00Z

With taxpayer suffrage abolished and universal suffrage achieved, political participation in our democratic societies should no longer be conditioned on property ownership. However, as Timothy Kuhner shows, politics remain subservient to capital.

The Anti-Europeans

Agnès Louis — 2019-12-09T08:00:00Z

Nowadays, criticism of Europe has become the outlet for democratic disarray. While disintegration threatens the European Union, what are the forces opposing it, and what are they going after exactly?

An Obsolete Separation of Powers?

Juliette Roussin — 2017-07-13T07:00:00Z

Is the Supreme Court democratic? No, replies Jeremy Waldron, who considers that the judicial branch should not substitute itself for citizens to determine their rights. But is his view of the separation of powers still valid today?

Election in the Ancien Régime

Yves Sintomer — 2016-02-29T08:00:00Z

The history of the vote reveals that election was not born with modern representative government, but that elections were held in the Middle Ages. It also reveals that designation by election is not the end of history in our democracies but that other methods may be considered.

Democracy and “the People”

Norbert Lenoir — 2015-07-08T22:00:00Z

Democracy is not the government of the people, by the people. Rather, it is a permanent process of conquering new rights. This is the argument of Catherine Colliot-Thélène's book, which examines the tension, found throughout democracy's history, between individual emancipation and political affiliation.

Referendum Uncertainty

Dominique Rousseau — 2015-04-09T05:30:00Z

Although a useful instrument of representative government, a referendum is not the embodiment of direct democracy that many like to believe. It is an act of acclamation rather than real participation in state affairs, and should be restricted by legal provisions that limit its scope.

The Meaning of Representation

Roger Chartier — 2014-08-25T07:00:00Z

To understand the concept of political representation, Roger Chartier, the historian of the book, proposes to relate it to the different meanings encompassed by the French term “représentation,” from its broadest sense—to show an absent object—to its legal and political sense—to hold someone's place.

A (Brazilian) Tale of Two Dimes

Paulo Edgar da Rocha Resende & Geraldo Adriano Godoy de Campos — 2014-07-07T07:00:00Z

The current strikes and mass protests in Brazil are part of a global wave of struggles against traditional political institutions and the notion of leadership. This essay highlights the absence of any clear political project answering the demands coming from the streets.