Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-w5jd6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-03T17:12:44.898Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Systematizing Democratic Systems Approaches

Seven Conceptual Building Blocks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Rikki Dean Open the ORCID record for Rikki Dean [Opens in a new window] ,
Jonathan Rinne Open the ORCID record for Jonathan Rinne [Opens in a new window]  and
Brigitte Geissel Open the ORCID record for Brigitte Geissel [Opens in a new window]
Rikki Dean*
Affiliation:
Goethe-University Frankfurt
Jonathan Rinne*
Affiliation:
Goethe-University Frankfurt
Brigitte Geissel*
Affiliation:
Goethe-University Frankfurt
*
E-mail: dean@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
E-mail: j@rinne.co
E-mail: geissel@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The notion that democracy is a system is ever present in democratic theory. However, what it means to think systemically about democracy (as opposed to what it means for a political system to be democratic) is under-elaborated. This article sets out a meta-level framework for thinking systemically about democracy, built upon seven conceptual building blocks, which we term (1) functions, (2) norms, (3) practices, (4) actors, (5) arenas, (6) levels, and (7) interactions. This enables us to systematically structure the debate on democratic systems, highlighting the commonalities and differences between systems approaches, their omissions, and the key questions that remain to be answered. It also enables us to push the debate forward both by demonstrating how a full consideration of all seven building blocks would address issues with existing approaches and by introducing new conceptual clarifications within those building blocks.

Keywords

deliberative democracydeliberative systemdemocratic systemdemocratic theorysystems theory

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Democratic Theory , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , December 2019 , pp. 41 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Berghahn Books 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aristotle. 2000. Politics. Trans. Benjamin, Jowett. Mineola, NY: Dover Publication.Google Scholar
Asenbaum, Hans. 2018. “The End of Democratic Theory? A Challenge to the Problem-Based Approach.” Paper presented at PSA Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Specialist Group Conference, London, September 5.Google Scholar
Bächtiger, André, and John, Parkinson. 2019. Mapping and Measuring Deliberation. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, Benjamin R. 1984. Strong Democracy. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Benhabib, Seyla. 1992. Situating the Self. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Boswell, John, Carolyn M., Hendriks, and Selen A., Ercan. 2016. “Message Received? Examining Transmission in Deliberative Systems.” Critical Policy Studies 10 (3): 263–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2016.1188712CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bühlmann, Marc, Wolfgang, Merkel, Lisa, Müller, and Bernhard, Webels. 2012. “The Democracy Barometer.” European Political Science 11 (4): 519–536. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2011.46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Rebecca, Caroline, Heldman, Alissa R., Ackerman, and Victoria A., Farrar-Meyers. 2016. “Hidden Corporate Profits in the U.S. Prison System: The Unorthodox Policy-Making of the American Legislative Exchange Council.” Contemporary Justice Review 19 (3): 380–400. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2016.1185949CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curato, Nicole, and Marit, Böker. 2016. “Linking Mini-Publics to the Deliberative System: A Research Agenda.” Policy Sciences 49 (2): 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-015-9238-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curato, Nicole, Marit, Hammond, and John B., Min. 2019. Power in Deliberative Democracy: Norms, Forums, Systems. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95534-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1956. A Preface to Democratic Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1989. Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dean, Rikki. 2016. “Democratising Bureaucracy.” PhD diss. London: London School of Economics. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3486/1/Dean_Democratising_Bureaucracy.pdf.Google Scholar
Dean, Rikki. 2017. “Beyond Radicalism and Resignation: The Competing Logics for Public Participation in Policy Decisions.” Policy and Politics 45 (2): 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557316X14531466517034CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, Rikki. 2018. “Counter-Governance: Citizen Participation Beyond Collaboration.” Politics and Governance 6 (1): 180–188. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v6i1.1221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, Rikki, John, Boswell, and Graham, Smith. 2019. “Designing Democratic Innovations as Deliberative Systems” Political Studies, OnlineFirst.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. Cambridge, UK: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John S. 2009. “Democratization as Deliberative Capacity Building.” Comparative Political Studies 42 (11): 1379–1402. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414009332129CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dryzek, John S. 2010. Foundations and Frontiers of Deliberative Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebeling, Martin, and Fabio, Wolkenstein. 2018. “Exercising Deliberative Agency in Deliberative Systems.” Political Studies 66 (3): 635–650. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321717723514CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elstub, Steven, Selen A., Ercan, and Ricardo Fabrino, Mendonça, eds. 2018. Deliberative Systems in Theory and Practice. Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar
Felicetti, Andrea, Simon, Niemeyer, and Nicole, Curato. 2016. “Improving Deliberative Participation: Connecting Mini-Publics to Deliberative Systems.” European Political Science Review 8 (3): 427–448. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773915000119CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodin, Robert E. 2005. “Sequencing Deliberative Moments.” Acta Politica 40 (2): 182–196. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500098CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodin, Robert E., and John S., Dryzek. 2006. “Deliberative Impacts: The Macro-Political Uptake of Mini-Publics.” Politics and Society 34 (2): 219–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329206288152CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, Jon, Jonathon, Kingzette, and Michael, Neblo. 2019. “Deliberative Democracy and Political Decision Making.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Between Facts and Norms. Trans. William, Rehg. Cambridge: Polity Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, Carolyn M. 2006. “Integrated Deliberation: Reconciling Civil Society's Dual Role in Deliberative Democracy.” Political Studies 54 (3): 486–508. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2006.00612.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, Carolyn M. 2016. “Coupling Citizens and Elites in Deliberative Systems: The Role of Institutional Design.” European Journal of Political Research 55 (1): 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knops, Andrew. 2016. “Deliberative Networks.” Critical Policy Studies 10 (3): 305–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2016.1188713CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. 1968. “Typologies of Democratic Systems.” Comparative Political Studies 1 (1): 3–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/001041406800100101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linder, Wolf. 1999. Schweizerische Demokratie. Institutionen. Prozess. Perspektiven. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Verlag Paul Haupt.Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas. 1995. Social Systems. Trans. John, Bednarz Jr. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, Michael K., and Mark E., Warren. 2012. “Two Trust-Based Uses of Mini-Publics in Democratic Systems.” In Deliberative Systems, ed. Jane Mansbridge and John Parkinson, 151–172. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane, James, Bohman, Simone, Chambers, Thomas, Christiano, Archon, Fung, John, Parkinson, Dennis F., Thompson, and Mark E., Warren. 2012. “A Systemic Approach to Deliberative Democracy.” In Deliberative Systems, ed. Jane, Mansbridge and John, Parkinson,1-26. Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139178914.002.Google Scholar
Mayne, Quinton, and Brigitte, Geissel. 2016. “Putting the Demos Back into the Concept of Democratic Quality.” International Political Science Review 37 (5): 634–644. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512115616269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendonça, Ricardo Fabrino. 2016. “Mitigating Systemic Dangers: The Role of Connectivity Inducers in a Deliberative System.” Critical Policy Studies 10 (2): 171–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2016.1165127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mill, John Stuart. 1861 (1991). Considerations on Representative Government. Cambridge, UK: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
Mouffe, Chantal. 2000. “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism.” Political Science Series 72. Vienna: Institute for Advanced Studies. www.ihs.ac.at/publications/pol/pw_72.pdf.Google Scholar
Neblo, Michael A. 2015. Deliberative Democracy between Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newton, Kenneth. 2012. “Making Better Citizens.” In Evaluating Democratic Innovations: Curing the Democratic Malaise?, ed. Brigitte, Geissel and Kenneth Newton, 137–162. Cambridge, UK: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niemeyer, Simon. 2014. “Scaling Up Deliberation to Mass Publics: Harnessing Mini-Publics in a Deliberative System.” In Deliberative Mini-Publics: Involving Citizens in the Democratic Process, ed. Kimmo, Grönlund, André, Bächtiger and Maija, Setälä, 177–202. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
O'Flynn, Ian, and Nicole, Curato. 2015. “Deliberative Democratization: A Framework for Systemic Analysis.” Policy Studies 36 (3): 298–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2015.1065965CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, David, and Graham, Smith. 2015. “Survey Article: Deliberation, Democracy, and the Systemic Turn.” Journal of Political Philosophy 23 (2): 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12054CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkinson, John. 2006. Deliberating in the Real World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, Talcott. 1937. The Structure of Social Action. Cambridge, UK: McGraw-Hill Book Company.Google Scholar
Parsons, Talcott. 1991. The Social System, new ed. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rummens, Stefan. 2012. “Staging Deliberation: The Role of Representative Institutions in the Deliberative Democratic Process.” Journal of Political Philosophy 20 (1): 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2010.00384.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1987. The Theory of Democracy Revisited. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1974. The Modern World-System I. Cambridge, UK: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Warren, Mark E. 2017. “A Problem-Based Approach to Democratic Theory.” American Political Science Review 111 (01): 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055416000605CrossRefGoogle Scholar