In person icon Representation and Discursive Constructions of the People: Struggles Over the Meaning of Democracy

Abstract

The panel explores the question of whether the current shifts in the meaning of democracy indicate a transformation of democracy. It is based on the assumption that democracy is a fundamentally contested concept (Walter Gallie) and that the political debate is constantly shaping and shifting its meaning. This occurs in social and traditional media discourse, in parliamentary debate, in the interplay between parliament and civil society discourse or in other public spheres. Ideas of democracy construct a specific idea of the people (demos) and its representation. The panel invites contributions that pose questions such as the following: How do constructions of the people change in specific contexts? What does it mean when representation is understood as a contract with the people? What representative claims are made by what kind of actors? What patterns of inclusion/exclusion (gender, belonging, intersectional positioning) are imprinted in constructions of the people? Etc. We are interested in theoretical and empirical research. We also welcome methodological contributions that go beyond discourse and include images, the performativity of representation and other aspects.

Title	Details
General Will and the People in Cas Mudde's Work: Populist Ideology as a Democratic Form of Representation	View Paper Details
Normative Views of Political Representation: from a Renewal of Democracy to its Backlash	View Paper Details
‘Citizens’ Attitudes to Democracy and Gender Equality: Evidence from Austria’	View Paper Details
Democracy After the Covid-19 Pandemic: a Populist Shift of Meaning in the Austrian National Council	View Paper Details
Discursive Constructions of the Demos as an Expression of Democratic Change	View Paper Details