The Future of Representative Democracy

Sonia Alonso is Senior Fellow at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB). John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and Research Professor at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB). Wolfgang Merkel is Director of the research unit 'Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges' at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and Professor of Political Science at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

• Introduction: rethinking the future of representative democracy Sonia Alonso, John Keane and Wolfgang Merkel; 1. Representative democracy and its critics Nadia Urbinati; 2. Representative democracy and the populist temptation Klaus von Beyme; 3. The wider canvas: representation and democracy in state and society Michael Saward; 4. Performance and deficits of present-day representation Bernhard Wessels; 5. Do parliaments have a future? David Beetham; 6. Engendering representative democracy Drude Dahlerup; 7. Representative democracy and the multinational demos Sonia Alonso; 8. Diagnosing and designing democracy in Europe Philippe C. Schmitter; 9. Monitory democracy? John Keane; 10. Representing nature Robyn Eckersley; 11. Democracy and representation beyond the nation state Michael Zürn and Gregor Walter-Drop.

'A valuable collection of essays which succeeds in assessing the development of democracy by placing it in wider historical and theoretical context - enlightening, compelling and fascinating.' Frank Ankersmit, University of Groningen