Meet the authors: “Saving democracy” Event

Democracy is in crisis. Is there still time to save it? Democracies face external threat from aggressive authoritarian states. Internally, citizens have grown increasingly distrustful of politicians and more cynical about national and global governance institutions. The time is ripe for democracy to renew itself. In their new book Saving Democracy, Mark Evans and Gerry Stoker offer a state-of-the art overview of democratic innovations today, moving beyond cries of the 'death' or 'end' of democracy to instead offer a range of practical solutions for how to save it and restore faith in democratic practice.  Professor Gerry Stoker is Professor of Governance within Social Sciences: Politics & International Relations at the University of Southampton. Professor Mark Evans Director of Democracy 2025 and Professor of Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, Australia.

This “Meet the authors” event brings the authors into dialogue with a panel of critics with expertise on the theory and practice of democratic renewal. The critics will interrogate the book’s main claims and themes and open up rich discussion with the audience. The event will be chaired by Dr Viktor Valgarðsson, Research Fellow in Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton, whose research interests lies especially in understanding what the current trends in political support and participation mean for democracy in the modern age, and if and how democratic systems need to be reformed in light of those developments.

The expert critics are: 

Dr Sadiya Akram, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Manchester Metropolitan University. Sadiya began her academic career with a PhD at the University of Birmingham. She then went on to posts at IGPA, University of Canberra, and SPIR, Queen Mary University, before joining Manchester Met in 2017. Her research is concerned with debates on agency, focusing primarily on the role of the unconscious and its interplay with agential capacities.

 

Professor Matt Flinders, Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics. He is also President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and a board member of the Academy of Social Sciences. Professor Flinders is currently working on modes of depoliticisation; governance and public policy; legislative studies; and majoritarian modification and constitutional reform, among others.

 

Professor Michele Micheletti, Lars Hertia Professorial Chair, Stockholm University. One of her main research concerns is the involvement of citizens in politics and democracy. Her research projects range from “Creative Participation” and “Sustainable Citizenship” to “The Dynamics of Citizenship in the Post-Political World”. She’s co-author of “Creative Participation: Responsibility-Taking in the Political World” (Routledge, 2010).