5810921: FU_Is democracy really in crisis?

Description

Considered by many people as the best and most successful political system, democracy, particularly in the last decade, has been the object of fierce criticisms. The question whether democracy is in crisis is in fact constantly being raised by philosophers, political scientists and normal citizens alike.
Thus, this seminar aims at raising fundamental questions about democracy and its claimed crisis:

- Foundation and justification of democracy: On which principles, values and assumptions does democracy rest?
- Demands of democracy: What does democracy require as a political system? Which formal rules and framework? Which skills and behaviour from citizens? What does democratic citizenship mean? How should an education to democracy look like and what would it require?
- Limits and criticisms of democracy: How to understand the contextual and principled criticisms against democracy? How does democracy respond to those criticisms? Is populism a symptom or a cause of a crisis of democracy?
- Alternatives to democracy: Is there a way beyond democracy? Or does democracy need to be reformed? How does democracy cope with phenomena such as fake news and populism?

Lecture Goals

Participants will be able to:

• Familiarize with the philosophical theories on democracy.
• Relate the theoretical standpoints to practical issues.
• Understand the questions raised by these issues of concrete life-situations.
• Develop critical thinking and sense of good argumentation.
• Formulate personal positions and arguments supporting it.

Lectures Method

Reading assignments, discussions, written individual assignments and group presentations.

Admission Requirements

No prior knowledge required. But participants should have a genuine interest in the topic of democracy in particular, and of political theory in general.

Literature

Frank Cunningham, Theories of Democracies. A Critical Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2001).
Daniele Archibugi, David Held, Martin Köhler, eds., Re-imagining Political Community (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998).
Michael Huemer, The Problem of Political Authority. An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.)
Julian Nida-Rümelin, Die Gefährdete Rationalität der Demokratie (Hamburg: Edition Körber, 2020).
Roger de Weck, Die Kraft der Demokratie. Eine Antwort auf die autoritären Reaktionäre (Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2020).

Materials

The presentations (videos) of the University's "Campus Gespräche" on democracy will be used as supporting materials for this class.