Kristian Stokke Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo Kristian.stokke@sgeo.uio.no
Harriss, J., Stokke, K. and Törnquist, O. (eds.), Politicising Democracy: The New Local Politics of Democratisation. Palgrave- Macmillan, 2004. Paperback edition in 2013 Törnquist, O., Webster, N. and Stokke, K. (eds.), Rethinking Popular Representation. Palgrave- Macmillan 2009. Paperback edition in 2012 Stokke, K. and Törnquist, O. (eds.), Democratization in the Global South: The Importance of Transformative Politics. Palgrave- Macmillan, 2013.
Depoliticised democracy Pacted agreement among powerful elites on crafting core institutions of democracy excluding ordinary people and their representatives Privatisation and delegation to the market, NGOs and communities: Reduction of public affairs that come under democratic control. Technocratic network governance with weak democratic representation and control Decentralisation to local communities under the assumption that they have common interests and that relations of power are unimportant Abuse and privileged control of institutions of democracy
Fragmented popular politics Common challenges of fragmentation and need for merging issues and scaling- up, but lack of organisational capacities Divisions stemming both from the complexity of political spaces and from the diverse interests/ identities, organisations and strategies in society. Local issues and militant particularisms rather than unified political blocs Need for strong links between civil society, trade unions and political parties to counter top- down incorporation (clientelism/populism) and build political integration and democracy from below
Rethinking popular representation Global spread of formal democracy, but most third wave countries have not achieved well- functioning democracy. Democratic spaces, but also serious democracy deficits and depoliticisation of democracy Need to rethink democratic representation: governance of public affairs, construction of demos and the mediating links between demos and public affairs Also, need to examine the political dynamics of substantial democratisation (more on this later)
Improved popular representation Popular capacity building Empower citizens with emphasis on their political agency Popular organisation building Address obstacles for organising, problems of fragmentation, lack of institutional channels and problems of depoliticisation Government commitment to popular representation Introduce nodes of popular representation.
From policy to politics Policy recommendations regarding the need for improved popular representation. But how does that come about? Calls for critical attention to politics of substantial demo- cratisation, or transformative democratic politics
Transformative democratic politics General definition By transformative democratic politics we mean political agendas, strategies and alliances that use formal and minimalist democracy to introduce politics and policies that may enhance people s opportunities for improving democracy and making better use of it
Primacy of democratic politics Transformative democratic politics in contrast to six other major (but non- democratic) forms of transformative politics: 1. Economistic transformative politics 2. Revolutionary transformative politics 3. Civil society- driven transformative politics 4. Communitarian transformative politics 5. Liberal transformative politics 6. Strong institutions transformative politics
Gradual democratization The notion of transformative politics can be contrasted with the two mainstream strategies to promote democracy: Liberal democratisation: Elitist introduction of universal liberal democratic institutions without altering the basic relations of power Conservative politics of order: Equally elitist but more conservative crafting of strong institutions of rule of law and governance ahead of democracy. Gradualism: mutually reinforcing interplay between democratic institutions and democratic politics that alters power relations and build a more substantive democracy
North- South comparisons Foregrounding of most successful traditions: Scandinavian social democracy, and new popular democracy in the Global South The point is not to transfer a model (a blueprint), but to look for useful lessons in the underlying democratic transformative politics
North- South comparisons Key features Primacy of politics via popular organizations and public institutions Centrality of citizenship- based democracy Strong traditions of developing political demands from below for political reform and universal public policies from above Centrality of demands from below for the institutionalization from above of issue- and interest- based representation and participation, fostering individual autonomy combined with strong popular organizations as well as accountability and trust in public institutions