July 4th – 5th 2019

"New Adventures in Democratic Theory: Constituency, Duty, Technology"

Conference Discription

Normative democratic theory traditionally operates with an oversimplified model of democratic practice. Abstracting from complexity is essential for isolating core values. But further progress in democratic theory may require considering more complex models of political organization and behavior. When we ask what democratic theory requires for important aspects of contemporary political life, often the answer given by received views is highly indeterminate. And when we work out democratic principles for new or undertheorized phenomena, these principles sometimes force us to reconsider foundational pillars of the democratic ideal. This conference explores specific extensions of the democratic ideal to further reaches of social life: the design of parliamentary constituencies, the duties of democratic citizens, and the legitimacy of digital technology. Besides stimulating new thinking about these areas, the conference hopes to encourage discussion on the metatheoretical question of what “high” political theory can learn from “mid-level” investigations.

Venue

FKH Bad Homburg

Schedule

Thursday, 4 July

14:00 Registration

14:30 Introduction: Rainer Forst (Justitia Amplificata / GU Frankfurt)

14:45 Panel: Electoral Constituencies: Definitions and Delimitations

Marcus Häggrot (Justitia Amplificata)

Michael James (Bucknell)

Joseph Lacey (University College Dublin)

Chair: Jiewuh Song (Justitia Amplificata / Seoul National University)

Friday, 5 July

10:00 Coffee

10:30 Panel: Democratic Legitimacy and Digital Technology

Ted Lechterman (Justitia Amplificata)

Fabienne Peter (Warwick)

Nien-hê Hsieh (Harvard Business School)

Chair: Mirjam Müller (Justitia Amplificata)

13:30 Lunch

15:00 Panel: Citizens and the Duties of Democracy

Chiara Destri (Justitia Amplificata)

Annabelle Lever (Sciences Po)

Maria Paola Ferretti (GU Frankfurt)

Chair: Stefan Gosepath (Justitia Amplificata / FU Berlin)