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Open Democracy

Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century
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( 101 ratings, 15 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Open Democracy by Hélène Landemore explores the concept of more inclusive and participatory democratic systems. The book critiques traditional representative democracy and advocates for innovative approaches that integrate ordinary citizens more directly into the decision-making process. Landemore discusses practical ways to reimagine democracy beyond periodic elections, aiming to enhance transparency and collective intelligence in governance.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$8200

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in exploring innovative ideas about political systems. The author presents thought-provoking arguments for reimagining democratic governance by enhancing inclusivity and participation. It's an engaging read for those who enjoy political theory and are curious about ways to strengthen democracy.

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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 meeti

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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 favours 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.

Open Democracy envisions what true government by mass leadership could look like. - Nathan Heller, New Yorker

A great defence of both sortition and deliberation as complements to representative democracy. - Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Open Magazine

A bold exploration of how we can move beyond a purely electoral conception of democratic representation. Using normative democratic theory and real-world examples of innovations in citizen representation, Hélène Landemore argues for a vision of democracy that is more faithful to popular rule, more likely to tap into democratic reason, and more stable and durable than electoral democracy. - Erica Yu, Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Open Democracy by Hélène Landemore explores a vision of government driven by true mass participation and innovation in citizen representation. It challenges traditional democratic structures like elections and political parties, advocating for a more inclusive and participatory governance system that aligns with popular rule. The book is praised for its bold ideas, the integration of sortition and deliberation, and its potential to offer a stable and durable alternative to the current electoral system.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691212395

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 March 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Illustration: 1 b/w illus. 1 table.

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 272

About the Author

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

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