Democracy Beyond Elections: Government Accountability In The Media Age (challenges To Democracy In The 21st Century)

This book provides the analytical framework for understanding the relationship between media scandals, executive accountability and the crisis of democracy. The empirical findings are based on an original database of 6000 media allegations and investigations in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. Observations gained from the case studies are then placed in relation to a systematic analysis and critique of more than 100 models of the transformation and crisis of democracy. The book will be of particular interest to researchers focusing on democratic theory and political thought, as well as those working empirically in the field of democratic systems. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Government Accountability in the Media Age: How to Measure, Explain and Assess It? (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 1-26 Front Matter ....Pages 27-27 The Media Age and Government Accountability: An Ambiguous Relationship (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 29-52 Supply of Accountability and the Accountability Turn (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 53-77 The Demand for Accountability and Public Fragmentation (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 79-94 Front Matter ....Pages 95-95 Accountability and Democracy: An Assessment (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 97-135 De-parliamentarisation of Government Accountability in Germany: Crisis or Transformation of Democracy? (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 137-153 The Presidentialisation of Government Accountability in Russia: Crisis or Transformation of Democracy? (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 155-178 Judicialisation of Government Accountability in Bulgaria: Crisis or Transformation of Democracy? (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 179-195 Front Matter ....Pages 197-197 Democracy Through the Prism of Accountability: Comparison with Models of the Crisis and Transformation of Democracy (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 199-221 Contemporary Models of the Crisis of Democracy: Critical Overview Through a Demand and Supply Framework (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 223-256 Models of the Transformation of Democracy: Critical Overview Through a Demand and Supply Framework (Gergana Dimova)....Pages 257-290 Back Matter ....Pages 291-339 This book provides the conceptual and methodological tools for understanding the relationship between media scandals, executive accountability and the crisis of democracy. The author applies these tools to a large original database of allegations and investigations in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. Observations gained from the case studies are then placed in relation to a systematic analysis and critique of more than 100 models of the transformation and crisis of democracy. The book will be of particular interest to researchers focusing on democratic theory and political thought, as well as those working empirically in the field of democratic systems. Gergana Dimova is Associate Lecturer in Global Politics at the University of Winchester, UK. She previously was a researcher at Harvard University, USA, and Cambridge University, UK. She is the chair of the UK Political Science Association Anti-Politics Group and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society