Multiple Democracies: Political Cultures and Democratic Variety in Post-Enlargement Europe
Contemporary Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2008
20 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2011
Date Written: April 4, 2008
Abstract
Democratization studies endorses a liberal view of democracy and political culture. Insufficient notice is taken of alternative models of democracy. I argue that a ‘multiple democracies’ approach that takes potential variety in democratic political cultures into account has three advantages over the conventional approach: it is sensitive to the historical and contextual nature of democratic regimes, it takes a dual imaginary into account, and it is able to conceptualise the emergence of innovative forms of political culture. Instead of a ‘model-approach’, I suggest a multiple democracies approach that identifies political cultures by means of available patterns of cultural repertoires or ethics of democracy.
Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe, Democratic Ethics, Democratization, Models of Democracy, Political Culture
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