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How should we define and conceptualize the idea of a “neo-democracy” in contemporary political theory?

I’m exploring newer democratic models that claim to go beyond classical liberal democracy. Ideas like digital participation, citizens’ assemblies, and deliberative forums are often grouped under “neo-democracy.” I want to understand how coherent this concept is philosophically and whether it genuinely addresses problems like technocratic elitism and corporate influence.

 

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By Adithi Answered 1 year ago

From my experience working with democratic theory, I have seen neo-democracy function less as a single model and more as a corrective impulse. It reflects dissatisfaction with electoral minimalism and elite-driven governance. Rather than rejecting liberal democracy, it tries to supplement it with deliberative spaces, participatory technologies, and forms of sortition that reintroduce ordinary citizens into decision-making. I would recommend understanding neo-democracy as experimental and pluralistic. Its philosophical strength lies in treating democracy as an ongoing practice that must adapt to complexity, inequality, and scale, rather than as a fixed institutional formula inherited from the past.
 

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