Designing Democratic Institutions: Nomos XLII (NOMOS - American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, 32)

As the principles and practices of democracy continue to spread ever more widely, it is hard to imagine a corner of the globe into which they will not eventually penetrate. But the euphoria of democratic revolutions is typically short-lived, and usually followed by disgruntlement and even cynicism about the actual operation of democratic institutions. It is widely accepted that democracy is a good thing. However democrats have much work to do in improving the performance of democratic institutions. The essays in this volume focus on this difficult and vital challenge: how can we improve the design of democratic institutions? How can public deliberation in democracies be enhanced? How can elections be reformed so as to dampen the excessive influence of special interests, especially those with money? How can democratic institutions be reformed so they can deal with issues that transcend the boundaries of the nation-state? And finally, how can democratic practices better take account of the internal plurality of societies that are ethnically or otherwise divided? Contributors: Brooke Ackerly, Ian Ayres, Geoffrey Brennan, John Ferejohn, Alan Hamlin, Russell Hardin, Donald Horowitz, Stephen Macedo, Philip Petit, Philippe C. Schmitter, Ian Shapiro, Philippe Van Parjis, Iris Marion Young. Introduction / Ian Shapiro And Stephen Macedo -- Disclosure Versus Anonymity In Campaign Finance / Ian Ayres -- Paying For Politics / Geoffrey Brennan And Alan Hamlin -- Instituting Deliberative Democracy / John Ferejohn -- Democracy, Electoral And Contestatory / Philip Pettit -- Self-determination And Global Democracy: A Critique Of Liberal Nationalism / Iris Marion Young -- Fallacies Of Nationalism / Russell Hardin -- Between Philosophy And Law: Sovereignty And The Design Of Democratic Institutions / Robert Post -- Designing A Democracy For The Euro-polity And Revising Democratic Theory In The Process / Philippe C. Schmitter -- Constitutional Design: An Oxymoron? / Donald L. Horowitz -- Designing Democratic Institutions: Political Or Economic? / Brooke A. Ackerly -- Power-sharing Versus Border-crossing In Ethnically Divided Societies / Philippe Van Parijs -- Provisional Pessimism: A Reply To Van Parijs / Donald L. Horowitz. Edited By Ian Shapiro And Stephen Macedo. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.