The End of Representative Politics, Revisited
The End of Representative Politics, Revisited [This conversation with Simon Tormey, filmed at his University of Sydney office, first appears in Democratic Theory. It is based on his book, The End of Representative Politics, published by Polity in 2015.] Citation guide: Simon Tormey and Jean-Paul Gagnon. 2017. “The End of Representative Politics, Revisited”. Democratic Theory, […]
Supplement B - 2,234 Descriptions of Democracy: An Update to Democracy’s Ontological Pluralism
SUPPLEMENT B – 2,234 Descriptions of Democracy: An Update to Democracy’s Ontological Pluralism [This appendix is companion to a research note first published by Democratic Theory.] Citation guide: Gagnon, Jean-Paul. 2018. “Supplement B – 2,234 Descriptions of Democracy: An Update to Democracy’s Ontological Pluralism”. Democratic Theory, 5 (1): 92-113. Explanatory Note What follows is a database of real […]
Enlivening the Democratic Imagination
Enlivening the Democratic Imagination [This conversation with John Keane was first published in the book Democratic Theorists in Conversation: Turns in Contemporary Thought.] Defining democracy Gagnon: How do you define democracy? Keane: My conjecture is that, in matters of democracy, we are living in a period that resembles the end of the eighteenth century and […]
Women keep democracy’s heart beating in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe
Women keep democracy’s heart beating in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe [First published in The Conversation, and co-written with Mark Chou and Tezcan Gumus, this essay was borne from the deeply satisfying effect of a group of women, from a country maligned for its Mugabe relation, visiting various Australian parliaments and asking: where are your women, where are your […]
The Reflexive Modernization of Democracy
The Reflexive Modernization of Democracy [Ulrich Beck was at the London School of Economics when I was visiting London in early 2012 (I had a conversation with David Held then, too). I have a memory of us finding an occasional room to use, some hot desk, and sprucing it up a bit with books in […]
Schrödinger’s Democracy [This is chapter 4 of my first book, Evolutionary Basic Democracy, published in 2013 by Palgrave Macmillan. The name of the chapter, of course, comes from the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger. A canine friend, who I have the pleasure of caring for, is also called Schrödinger (Odie for short). I have fond memories […]
Arguments for Evolutionary Democracy
Arguments For Evolutionary Democracy [This is the third chapter from my book Evolutionary Basic Democracy (Palgrave, 2013). It offers arguments in favor of the theory that forms of democracy have independently evolved many times in this world, especially among non-humans!] Abstract: I investigate the sciences for their use of the terms ‘democracy’ and ‘democratic’. Findings […]
Building a Gramsci-Foucault Axis of Democracy
Building a Gramsci-Foucault Axis of Democracy [This book chapter, originally published in David Kreps’ Gramsci and Foucault: A Reassessment, offers a consideration of democratic citizenship built from comparing and contrasting Gramsci’s works with Foucault’s. I remember the writing and editing process for this being an enjoyable one; especially good was reading the other chapters in […]
If our underwhelming politicians don’t pass the test, perhaps its time to make them sit one
If our underwhelming politicians don’t pass the test, perhaps its time to make them sit one Originally published by The Conversation, February 16, 2012. [Meritocratic folly. But I still think there’s something in this call to a higher epistocratic standard for politicians in Australia and other countries like it. I am now wondering, too, if there […]
Conflict in the 'South China Sea': Lessons from the Dene Peoples and the Arctic Conflict?
Conflict in the ‘South China Sea’: Lessons from the Dene Peoples and the Arctic Conflict? Originally published September 26, 2011, by the Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (online April 1, 2014). [John Raulston Saul and Stephen Kakfwi spoke about “Aboriginal Sovereignty in the Arctic” on January 13, 2011, at the Munk School for Global […]
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