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List of contents
- Introduction
- 1: Democratic Parties and Popular Sovereignty
- 2: A Deliberative Model of Intra-Party Democracy
- 3: Partisan Activism in the Age of Individualisation
- 4: The Circumstances of Partisan Deliberation
- 5: Partisan Deliberation in Action
- 6: Failures of Partisan Deliberation
- Conclusion
About the author
Fabio Wolkenstein is Assistant Professor in Political Science at Aarhus University and Affiliated Researcher in Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Political Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and the European Journal of Political Theory.
Summary
This book adresses a question of fundamental importance to contemporary representative democracies: How could political parties reconnect with society? It advances a normative account of party reform, drawing on both democratic theory and political science scholarship on parties.
Additional text
In an age of harsh criticism of parties as either corrupt power machines or mere expressions of populist resentment, it is time to fundamentally rethink this major democratic institution. In this brilliant book, Fabio Wolkenstein combines the best of empirical analysis and normative theory to make a case for a deliberative conception of parties. In a unique way, he shows the path toward a renewed practice of party politics which is partisan and activist as well as discursive and rational. A great synthetic achievement that will open many doors for fresh thinking.
