Democratic Innovation is an original look at the political future of democracy, exploring the latest ideas aimed at renewing popular power. Featuring new writings by leading European, American and Australian democratic theorists, this book explores the following themes: * the importance of public deliberation in democracies * how effective representation for all might be acheived * the role that voluntary associations can play in democratic governance

Introduction Democratic Innovation Michael Saward Part I: Deliberative Democracy: Advocacy and Critique 1. The quest for deliberative democracy James S. Fishkin and Robert C. Luskin 2. Toward deliberative institutions Graham Smith 3. Deliberation as public use of reason - or, what public? Whose reason? Tiina Rättilä 4. The EU's democratic deficit: a deliberative perspective Erik O Eriksen 5. Less than meets the eye: democratic legitimacy and deliberative theory Michael Saward 6. Discursive democracy vs. liberal constitutionalism John S. Dryzek Part II: Interest, Deliberation and the Rethinking of Representation 7. Group represenation, deliberation, and the displacement of dichotomies Judith Squires 8. From theory to practice and back again: gender quota and the politics of presence in Belgium Petra Meier 9. Deliberative democracy, ecological representation and risk: towards a democracy of the affected Robin Eckersley 10. Ecological constitutionalism and the limits of deliberation and representation Mike Mills and Fraser King 11. Governance, self-representation and democratic imagination Henrik Paul Bang and Torben Bech Dyrberg Part III: Associations and Democracy 12. Active citizenship and associative democracy Piotr Perczynski 13. Associative democracy - fashionable slogan or constructive innovation? Sigrid Roßteutscher 14. Social capital, associations and civic republicanism Francisco Herreros 15. Deliberative democracy versus direct democracy - plus political parties! Ian Budge Conclusion Variation, innovation and democratic renewal Michael Saward