Summary
The purpose of this Network is to coordinate the various studies now taking place and with a view of improving our insight into the subtle differences between countries in the dating and rhythm of democratisation. This will help answer a number of important questions concerning rate and timing of change, such as why franchise reforms occurred either suddenly through extraordinary measures or in a series of steps, but with little in between the two extremes.
The rise and growing acceptance of democracy constituted one of the major political and cultural changes during the 19th and 20th century in Europe. The received view of both citizens and scholars tended to regard this change from the perspective of its results, by neglecting the language and the political agents. The politics of democratisation was subordinated to philosophy of history, to "progress".
New approaches to political theory have emerged, embracing recent conceptual and intellectual history, constitutional law, women’s studies, and cultural studies along with other related fields. Previously neglected and unanticipated consequences of democratisation are also being explored, leading to crucial revisions of both political theory and the contemporary political situations.
The purpose of this Network is to coordinate the various studies now taking place and with a view of improving our insight into the subtle differences between countries in the dating and rhythm of democratisation. This will help answer a number of important questions concerning rate and timing of change, such as why franchise reforms occurred either suddenly through extraordinary measures or in a series of steps, but with little in between the two extremes.
Democracy may now be the established political regime throughout Europe, but an understanding of why it prevailed and how it was introduced through political struggles in different countries during the 20th century has remained superficial. All political concepts are controversial, and competing theories of democracy form both academic and political enrichment. This Network aims to render the competition of perspectives fruitful to the European discussion, in turn inspiring new comparative, thematic or national projects around the topics under consideration.
The topic of political rhythm is particularly interesting and leads to several important questions that will be tackled within the Network. For example did late-comers to a political change simply take advantage of the experience of others in legitimising a radical change? The Network is also exploring regional and cultural differences, such as between old and new democracies, between central Europe and the peripheries, and between the Atlantic and continental traditions. The current challenges to representative democracy invite a rewriting the politics and history of democratisation and the ongoing revisions of this history also allow us to see the challenges from new perspectives
A selection of contributions from the five conferences will be published in the ESF series in two volumes
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