From: 2007/12/03 to: 2007/12/07
Subscription Deadline: 2007/11/01
Place: Roskilde University, Building 25, teorirum 3
Fee: 0
ECTS: 5, without paper 2,5

Course description:

This Phd-course is a theoretical and methodological introduction at the highest level to the recent research on how the current transformations of the political systems influence the democratic quality of societal governance. The political system changes due to a number of factors: Political globalisation challenges the supremacy of national borders in organizing democratic decision making. New Public Management reforms lead to an increased pluricentrism and fragmentation of the public sector. Reformulation of the distinction between politics and administration, and an increased use of networks as a strategic means to enhance policy koordination and policy implementation blurs the boundaries between public and private - between state market and civil society. The course treat questions like: How and to what extent does the transformation of the political systems in the western world influences the democratic quality of societal governance? Why do different studies of power and democracy reach very different conclusions? Which are the potential benefits and short comings of doing policy analysis in studies of democracy? To what extent does it make sense to define a set of general indicators for democracy and if so what such indicators should be?

The PhD course takes its point of departure in the huge challenges that advanced liberal democracy currently faces. The political systems are in a process of change due to a series of factors: Political globalisation challenges the supremacy of national borders in organizing democratic decision making, New Public Management reforms lead to an increased pluricentrism and fragmentation of the public sector, and a reformulation of the distinction between politics and administration, and an increased use of networks as a strategic means to enhance policy coordination and policy implementation blurs the boundaries between public and private - between state market and civil society. In short, what is taking place is what Michel Dean and others have called a governmentalization of society and Bob Jessop denotes a de-statification of governance.

While the so called governance researchers have focussed on how this development impacts the ability of public authorities to ensure an efficient and effective governance of society, this course asks to what extent and how this transformation of the political systems in the western world influences the democratic quality of societal governance.

The Scandinavian studies of power and democracy represent an important starting point in this debate on the consequences of the changes in the political systems for democracy. Hence, the four studies of power and democracy agreed on the diagnosis described above: democracy is in transition. However, what is puzzling is that they reach radically different conclusions with regard to the consequences for democracy. While the Norwegian study concludes that democracy is in serious trouble because a range of other and less legitimate decision makers are taking over, the Danish study concludes that the increased role of other actors in the decision making processes should be seen as a positive supplement to representative democracy. Sweden places itself in the middle by concluding that a measurement of the democratic consequences depends on the choice of democratic perspective and points to the two dominating perspectives in the democratic tradition in the Nordic countries: the view of democracy as conceptualized by Alf Ross and the view of democracy as a life form as conceptualized by Hal Koch.

One of the central tasks of this course is to try to uncover and analyse why the studies of power and democracy reach so very different conclusions. It is a huge pity that this cross country comparison has not been made. The research material is there and needs to be discussed and analysed much more in an attempt to analyse the emerging patterns of democratic thinking in and across the Nordic countries.

However, the course intends to go further than that. The Scandinavian studies of power and democracy to a large extent tend to build on the theoretical inheritance of Alf Ross and Hal Koch, although these approaches are today reconceptualised by James March and Johan P. Olsen as aggregative and integrative democracy. This approach overlooks important new developments within democratic theorizing produced by Nordic researchers as well as by a whole range of theorists on democracy from other countries. These researchers share the view that the huge transformations of the political systems in the Western world call for a re-conceptualisation of the very notion of democracy. Among such theorists we find John Dryzek (discursive notion of democracy), Jürgen Habermas (deliberative democracy), David Held (cosmopolitan democracy), Paul Hirst (associative democracy), Eva Ezioni-Halevy (competitive elite democracy, Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright (empowered participatory governance), Chantal Mouffe (agonistic democracy), and Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing (network democracy). The course aims to give the participants a thorough introduction to this new wave of democratic theory in order to discuss to what extent and how these theories might contribute to the development of democratic standards for a globalised, pluricentric, network based political system.

One important issue that will be taken up in the course is the relationship between democracy and efficiency and effectiveness. Hence, we tend to see a reinterpretation of this relationship in the move from traditional to new theories of democracy. Traditional theories of democracy and most notably those inspired by Davis Easton’s systems theoretical approach to the political system, argue that there is a trade-off between democracy on the one side and efficiency and effectiveness on the other. Democracy increases the demands on the political system and hence reduces its ability to act. This line of thought is among others followed by Giovanni Sartory. We find the same type of argument in the whole debate on input-legitimacy versus outcome legitimacy in the EU debate, where it is argued that too much input legitimacy through referenda etc. tends to block the ability of the EU to do what is best for the people. This understanding is currently challenged by the new governance and governmentality literature which claims that the increased involvement of stakeholders in decision making and policy implementation is for the benefit of both democracy and governance efficiency and effectiveness because participation produces ownership, commitment and willingness to invest resources in public policy production.

Another important issue concerns methods in the study of democracy. Currently, we are witnessing a renaissance in the use of policy analysis in studies of democracy. This new wave of policy analysis is, among other things, triggered by an increased focus on informal aspects of democratic governance and the surge of interpretative research. The course will task up the question of the potential benefits and short comings of doing policy analysis in studies of democracy, and give examples of recent studies of this kind.

A third topic taken up in the course is that of democratic auditing. Currently a new literature on democratic auditing is emerging. Democratic auditing is not a new thing. This ambition was first initiated by Arend Lijphart in his comparative study of party systems, but it has recently been taken up by a series of new researchers including David Beetham, Christopher Lord and Chris Skelcher. We will take up the question of to what extent it makes sense to define a set of general indicators for democracy and if so what such indicators should be.

Finally, the course aims to encourage an increased interactive dialogue between researchers and practitioners seeking to develop democratic institution building and democratic renewal. Therefore, the course involves an excursion to a Danish municipality which have experimented intensively with new forms of democracy and done so in close cooperation with researchers at Roskilde University.

Registration and paper submission

PhD students and young researchers from Europe and not least from the Nordic and Baltic countries are encouraged to apply. Due to a grant from NordForsk we will be able to cover all costs including travel costs and accommodation. Each of the 25 participants must present a 10 page paper describing their research project. Application including a one page description of how the research project is relevant in relation to the conference theme should be inserted no later than 1^st November 2007 at:

http://zope.polforsk1.dk/ET/tilm/TMeng?kursuslisteid=105#start   

You are expected to present a paper at the course. You will receive a mail telling whether your application has been approve or not. Please note whether or not you want to present your paper in the master class session or at one of the other paper presentation sessions. Two papers will be selected among those who desire to present in the master class.

Participation in the course is free: Accomodation, food, course, dinner, lectures, tutoring and compendium are covered. Flight tickets to Denmark and back to your home country are reimbursed if you choose the cheapest tickets. The transportation from Copenhagen Airport to Roskilde University and back again are reembursed, too. Local transportation to the airport in your own country is normally not reembursed; if this gives you problems, you may apply for reembursement of these costs.
Course language: English

Further information: eva@ruc.dk