Rethinking Democratic Innovations: A Look through the Kaleidoscope of Democratic Theory

The study of democratic innovations has long been situated in the deliberative paradigm. Today, however, a new scholarly generation conceptualizes democratic innovations from various theoretical angles. This article reviews participatory, agonistic and transformative accounts of democratic innovations. This multiperspectival analysis presents democratic innovations in a new light. The term changes its meaning, going beyond institutions designed by experts to include the remaking of the structures that govern our everyday lives. Democratic innovations interrupt established modes of governance and create spaces for systemic transformations.

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This article reviews different theoretical perspectives on democratic innovations, including participatory, agonistic, and transformative accounts. Democratic innovations go beyond institutions designed by experts to include remaking everyday life structures, interrupting established modes of governance, and creating spaces for systemic transformations.