After Liberal Global Democracy: New Methodology for New Praxis

Abstract

Liberalism is in trouble as a normative basis of world order, partly for its failure to deliver adequate democracy to contemporary globalisation. This article explores how new ideas and practices of democracy might underpin a future post-liberal world order. The discussion especially addresses methodological issues, on the premise that the way that global democracy is studied deeply affects the ways that it can be understood and enacted. To open space for more innovative thinking about people's power in a global world, the article develops an approach which-in contrast to established liberal theorising-emphasises principles of diversity, reflexivity, and praxis. Drawing on experiences of implementing these principles in a six-year 'Building Global Democracy' programme, the article argues that such a methodology can generate different, imaginative and transformative notions. In particular, post-liberal reinventions of democracy could redefine the demos, incorporate nonmodern institutions, deepen justice, and confront structural power hierarchies. To be sure, as the final section reflects, the formulation and implementation of post-liberal constructions of global democracy face considerable challenges. Yet, with no less than the future of a good society at stake, it is vital further to pursue such experiments in globality beyond liberalism.

Inclusive growth: the challenges of multidimensionality and multilateralism

“…At this time, however, the massive loss of public trust in elite politicians, policymakers and experts also makes inclusive growth one of the key political challenges of our epoch. There has been a loss of trust in key political actors and a loss of confidence in some of the key ideas of globalisation and in the institutions that have been the governors of it (Scholte 2019). In his historical analysis of the impact of crises on the international order, Harold James (2011, 528) argued that 2009 would be instrumental in a swing away from some key neo-liberal ideas to 'a world in which the advantage lies with the strong, who can muster large concentrations of economic and demographic resources.'.…”

(e-)Participation and propaganda: The mix of old and new technology in Hungarian national consultations

“…Sundberg, 2019), the latter literature has often been normative, meaning 'the more participation the better' (Randma-Liiv and Vooglaid, 2019, p. 11), which may be due to the way e-participation has been promoted by international and regional organizations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union (EU), or influenced by the literature on collaborative governance, which also often has a normative bias (Batory and Svensson, 2019b). At the same time, the importance of looking at the various ways technology can be used by governments for non-benign purposes is becoming paramount in the light of a global backlash for democracy (Lührmann et al, 2019;Csaky, 2020;Plattner, 2020;Scholte, 2020). While the negative effects on privacy and the increased possibilities for mass surveillance in non-democratic states, such as China, are well known (Wang and Hong, 2010), it is vital to broaden the focus beyond surveillance and extend the geographical scope to include Europe, where the quality of democracy seems to have deteriorated in several countries that are members of the EU, sometimes referred to as backsliding democracies (Sedelmeier, 2014;Sitter and Bakke, 2019).…”

Mediji u ulozi savjetovanja s javnošću prilikom donošenja propisa

“…Navedeno potvrđuje tezu prema kojoj "raskrižje između populizma i participativnog upravljanja pokazuje da entuzijasti participativnog upravljanja moraju biti svjesniji na samo upotrebe, već i zlouporabe javnog doprinosa" (Batory i Svensson, 2019). Osim toga, važnost sagledavanja različitih načina na koje vlade mogu koristiti tehnologiju u benigne svrhe postaje od najveće važnosti u svjetlu globalne reakcije na demokraciju (Scholte, 2020). Iz mađarskog primjera provođenja savjetovanja vidljiv je utjecaj negativnih čimbenika.…”