Democratic Theorists in Conversation ― Turns in Contemporary Thought

The principles and practices of democracy in the twenty-first century have changed drastically from how they were understood hundreds and even thousands of years ago. In the world today, we not only think about democracy differently and practice it differently, we are also predicting new and distinct futures for it. On top of this, the origins of democracy have been brought into question while democratic theory has been picked apart and the practice of democracy has been presented with new challenges. This book argues that the result of these changes is a new understanding of democracy termed 'new democratic theory'. Through interviews with renowned democratic theorists working today, Noam Chomsky, John Keane, Francis Fukuyama, John Dunn, David Held, Ulrich Beck, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Pierre Rosanvallon, John Dryzek, Thomas Seeley, and Albert Weale, this book provides an in-depth exploration of new democratic theory. The result is striking with each interview highlighting new dimensions and changes to our understanding of democracy

Jean Paul Gagnon is Research Fellow at the School of Political sciences and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia.