How do we define the contested concept 'Democracy'? Should we strive for one particular definition or do we do better by teasing out different definitions which can then be ordered in typologies of democracy and non-democracy? How do we best measure of democracy? And, finally, what are the causes of democracy? These are the three main questions posed in this workshop. The answers to the two latter questions obviously hinge on the conceptualization in the first place. But the fact that no consensus has been arrived at with respect to such a definition does not change the fact that the literature teems with attempts to explain the advent, persistence, or breakdown of democracy. We propose to dig deeper into the issue of whether general patterns can be created out of the apparent chaos. What do we really know about the causes of democracy and to what extent are our results dependent on the employed definition? Insofar as we instead distinguish between thinner and thicker types of democracy, can a general theoretical model be used to explain why some countries only become electoral democracies whereas other go the entire distance to liberal democracy? We welcome contributions to these debates which we hope to further with this workshop.
Lecture Hall 2
10:00-10:45 | Palle Svensson (Aarhus University): “Forms and Terminology of Direct Democracy” |
10.45-11:30 | Hans-Joachim Lauth (University of Würzburg): ”Responsiveness – a core basis for democracy?” |
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11.30-12.15 | Michael Seeberg (Aarhus University): “Mapping Deviant Democracies” |
Lecture Hall 2
10.30-11:15 | Christian Welzel (Leuphana University): ”Substantive Measures of Democracy: The Human Empowerment Approach” | |
11:15-12:00 | Wolfgang Merkel (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin): ”The Democracy Barometer” | |
13:15-13:50 | Gerardo Munck (University of Southern California): “What Have We Learned About Democracy?” | |
13.50-14:25 | Jørgen Møller & Svend-Erik Skaaning (Aarhus University): ”The Lopsided Dynamics of Democratization: Toward a Theoretical Model” | |
14.25-15:00 | Jacob Gerner Hariri (University of Copenhagen): ”The Autocratic Legacy of Early Statehood” | |
