Democracy, Participation and Public Administration
A Systems Approach
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 25. December 2030
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-5292-5103-6 (ISBN)
Description
Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
The democratic state is unravelling. Authoritarians exploit its deficits to disguise attacks on democracy as democratic renewal, while Silicon Valley searches for ways to replace public service with private technology. Countering these threats to democratic governance requires thinking administratively about democracy and democratically about administration.
This book develops a novel democratic systems theory that puts public administration at the heart of democracy. The new approach is then applied to the project of democratic innovation, exploring the potential of public participation and digital technologies to democratise the administrative state. It is essential reading for defending democracy in an age of resurgent authoritarianism, providing both theoretical innovation and practical pathways towards a more democratic future.
The democratic state is unravelling. Authoritarians exploit its deficits to disguise attacks on democracy as democratic renewal, while Silicon Valley searches for ways to replace public service with private technology. Countering these threats to democratic governance requires thinking administratively about democracy and democratically about administration.
This book develops a novel democratic systems theory that puts public administration at the heart of democracy. The new approach is then applied to the project of democratic innovation, exploring the potential of public participation and digital technologies to democratise the administrative state. It is essential reading for defending democracy in an age of resurgent authoritarianism, providing both theoretical innovation and practical pathways towards a more democratic future.
Reviews / Votes
'A huge step forward in understanding how the administrative state is central to democracy, as the key means through which a people provides collective goods for itself. Expansive, sophisticated, clear and theoretically precise.' Mark E. Warren, University of British Columbia "This sophisticated analysis of how different forms of participation interact with the political-administrative system opens important new ways of thinking about democratic innovation." Graham Smith, University of WestminsterMore details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Bristol
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
3 s/w Tabellen, 4 s/w Abbildungen
3 Tables, black and white; 4 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-5292-5103-6 (9781529251036)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 09/2026
1st Edition
Bristol University Press
€37.50
Not yet published
Person
Rikki Dean is Associate Professor in Politics and Co-Director of the Centre for Democratic Futures at the University of Southampton, and Visiting Professor at the Democratic Innovations Research Unit, Goethe University Frankfurt.
Content
1. Introduction: Democracies are Political-Administrative Systems
Part I: Theorizing Political-Administrative Systems
2. Towards a Democratic Theory of Political-Administrative Systems
3. System Legitimacy: A Plural Grounding of the Norms and Functions of Political-Administrative Systems
4. System Interventions: The Actors, Practices and Arenas of Political-Administrative Systems
Part II: Democratizing Political-Administrative Systems
5. Towards a Systems Approach to Democratic Innovation
6. Pluralizing Participation: Four Modes of Democratic Innovation
7. Digital Democratization? Democratic Innovation in a Datafied Administration
8. Conclusion: Democracy, Participation and Public Administration in the Face of Authoritarianism
Part I: Theorizing Political-Administrative Systems
2. Towards a Democratic Theory of Political-Administrative Systems
3. System Legitimacy: A Plural Grounding of the Norms and Functions of Political-Administrative Systems
4. System Interventions: The Actors, Practices and Arenas of Political-Administrative Systems
Part II: Democratizing Political-Administrative Systems
5. Towards a Systems Approach to Democratic Innovation
6. Pluralizing Participation: Four Modes of Democratic Innovation
7. Digital Democratization? Democratic Innovation in a Datafied Administration
8. Conclusion: Democracy, Participation and Public Administration in the Face of Authoritarianism