The Transformation of Democratic Institutions in Europe: Is the Cure for the Problems of Democracy More Democracy?

The impetus for this project comes from the argument made by a variety of political theorists that democratic nations are shifting their political norms from representative democracy toward a more participatory democracy. The proliferation of referenda is just one facet of a set of growing opportunities for democratic participation in OECD nations. To investigate this phenomenon, this project assembles a team of scholars from across three University of California campuses, and several other specialists on European politics to examine the tension between the institutions of representative democracy and the new calls for institutional reform. The project is guided by the following research questions:

1. That are the sources of the pressure for institutional reform?
2. To what extent have institutional changes been enacted along several potential dimensions of reform?
3. How have political actors, especially the traditional actors of representative democracy, responded to these new structures?
4. That are the effects of enacted reforms on the workings of the democratic process?

Research guided by these questions focuses on the European experience, and includes comparative evidence from other OECD democracies. This research team has met for a preliminary planning session at Berkeley in the Fall of 2001 and plans a further meeting in Belagio, Italy, for the Spring of 2002.