Introduction: what is this module about?
Democracy is a crucial ideal – ‘rule by the people’ - and set of political practices, such as voting in free and fair elections and public debate and deliberation. It is also a deeply contested ideal and a practice. In several countries it is not unusual to find proponents of very different policy or ideological positions each using the rhetoric of democracy in favour of their position and against their opponents.
The ambiguities at the heart of democracy – what is it exactly, how should it be practiced? – are viewed by some as a weakness: maybe, in the end, it is an idea empty of real meaning? However, this very ambiguity may reflect something positive and offer opportunities. Perhaps democracy is flexible: it can be thought of and done differently in different places and contexts. Could democracy be a matter of design for different purposes and contexts; creative and experimental uses of a range of institutions enacting distinct sets of ideals?
The module explores democratic design. Looking at a range of democratic principles (equality, freedom, etc.) and institutions (from the familiar such as parliaments to the new and innovative, such as the Brazil-inspired participatory budgeting process), it interrogates the notions of democracy and design. It considers new approaches to democratic change in the face of varied challenges to democratic organisation and effectiveness.
Democratic Design is an experimental module in which ideas will be debated and tested without preordained conclusions.