Maintaining Democracy. Exploring Care and Repair of Democratic Systems

Theoretically, democracy has been in crisis for quite some time. Over the last two decades, democratic erosion processes can also be empirically observed, as exemplified by cases of ‘democratic backsliding’, even in consolidated or established democracies. Democratic viability has posed a concern of modern government too, but it also represents an increasing concern. Thus, how to maintain political stability and community, one of the recurring cardinal questions of political science, is posed anew. In general, times of crises are often considered opportunities for change, reform or even reinvention. In the recent context, political science has brought forth multiple innovative models of democracy and further concepts of democratic innovation. On the other hand, theorization and discourse around democratic maintenance – i.e., as continuous care and repair – has received less attention.
Consequently, this panel aims to explore other paths and perspectives. A guiding premise – certainly shared by democratic innovation scholarship – is that democracy could and should be maintained. However, we propose shifting perspective toward the requisites, conditions, and factors necessary for, and conducive to, ongoing care and repair of democracy. For instance, certain institutional settings or configurations may wind up mismatched with contemporary challenges or changes in society and governance. Yet, from democratic maintenance perspective, questions arise regarding necessities of adaptation, but also continuous care and repair. They confront multiple levels and parts or actors of the democratic system, from branches, levels of government and collective actors, to individual citizens. As further guiding premise: democracy implies not just institutions and mechanisms of popular rule, but also responsibilities of care, and thus ongoing maintenance. Moreover, this should become apparent, at latest, in times of salient fragility and vulnerability of democracy itself.
Against this backdrop, our panel proposes to explore coping with challenges to democratic systems with a particular focus on democratic maintenance. Furthermore, we welcome contributions – whether from qualitative or quantitative empirical, rather theoretical or conceptual approaches – that deal with this perspective of maintenance in general, and with a view to ongoing care and repair in particular.