Book launch: Centripetal Democracy: Democratic Legitimacy and Political Identity in Belgium, Switzerland and the European Union
Centripetal democracy is the idea that legitimate democratic institutions set in motion forms of citizen practice and representative behaviour that serve as powerful drivers of political identity formation. Partisan modes of political representation in the context of multifaceted electoral and direct democratic voting opportunities are emphasised on this model. There is, however, a strain of thought predominant in political theory that doubts the democratic capacities of political systems constituted by multiple public spheres. This view is referred to as the lingua franca thesis on sustainable democratic systems (LFT). Inadequate democratic institutions and acute demands to divide the political system (through devolution or secession), are predicted by this thesis. By combining an original normative democratic theory with a comparative analysis of how Belgium and Switzerland have variously managed to sustain themselves as multilingual democracies, this book identifies the main institutional features of a democratically legitimate European Union and the conditions required to bring it about.
The event will be followed by a wine reception.
Date: 14 June 2017, 17:00 (Wednesday, 8th week, Trinity 2017)
Venue: University College, High Street OX1 4BH
Venue Details: Swire Seminar Room
Speaker: Joseph Lacey (University College, Oxford)
Host: Kalypso Nicolaidis (St Antony's College)
Booking required?: Required
Booking email: louise.wright@univ.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Public
Editors: James Baldwin, Ellysia Graymore