ABOUT THIS BOOK

An exploration of democracy—and how we study it—in all its variations.

The Sciences of the Democracies issues a direct challenge to one of the most influential advice books on democracy ever published—the (in)famous “Trilateral Report” written in 1975, better known as The Crisis of Democracy—on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. This collaborative project is ambitious, aiming not only to capture the great diversity of democratic practices and institutions but also to introduce a new theory of democracy altogether. The contributors propose a holistic approach to democracy that draws on five sources of knowledge: individual people, groups of people, non-textual media, texts, and non-humans. The outcome is both an innovative account of democratic history and a practical guide for future democracy scholars.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jean-Paul Gagnon is a philosopher of democracies at the University of Canberra and an editor of the journal Democratic Theory. Benjamin Abrams is associate professor of sociology at University College London’s Institute of Education and chief editor of the journal Contention.

REVIEWS

"This collectively-authored book is a manifesto for advancing the democratic project by studying the myriad ways in which people across time and space already know democracy-relevant practices and institutions. A timely and ambitious project aimed at forming and consolidating a new generation of democracy scholars."

— Mark E. Warren, University of British Columbia

"The Sciences of the Democracies is a wonderful exploration of how we study democracy. Presented as an intervention and innovation in research design, the authors deliver a deep, timely, and inspiring reflection on democracy’s past, present, and future."

— Simone Chambers, University of California, Irvine

"The Sciences of the Democracies introduces a genuinely original collaborative project of democratic learning and action. While breaking free from familiar academic constraints in its form and content, it is a record of ongoing research into the pluralism of democratic experiences, institutions and ideas, as well as of the different ways to study and build on them. It should be of interest to anyone who has ever wondered what democracy is, has been and might be."

— Annabelle Lever, Sciences-Po

"This is a wonderfully ambitious book, whose great merit lies in its bold choice to view democracy as a phenomenon of continuous variation—a sine qua non not only for biological adaption in the face of challenge, but also for the democratic revitalization so urgently needed in today’s world."

— Frank Hendriks, Tilburg University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note about authorship
About the authors
Key points for readers
Acknowledgements

1 The story of this book
2 The sciences of the democracies and cognates
3 Data mountains and their democratic theorists
4 New institutions: models for the useability of our data
5 Our public relations problem
6 Methodological complexities
7 Enter the dynamo

Essays in response
8 Democracy and the dangers of self-evident truths Matthew Flinders
9 A compelling but precarious way to study democracy Michael Saward
10 Between praiseworthy ambition and academic audacity Michael Freeden
11 The power of a 1,000-word blog Martin J. Bull and Johanne Døhlie Saltnes

References
Index