Table of Contents

1. Why ‘saving’ democracy?
2. Can democracy be saved?

Part 1: Interventions at the input stage to enable critical citizenship
3. Building participatory governance systems
4. Direct democracy
5. Deliberative democracy
6. Design-led digital democracy

Part 2: Interventions at the throughput stage to improve the quality and integrity of politics
7. Reforming elected assemblies
8. Cleaning-up politics
9. Embedding experts and evidence in democratic governance
10. Old and new media – power with responsibility

Part 3: Interventions at the output stage to improve the capacity of politics to deliver quality services and policy outcomes
11. Improving the public service experience: the search for public value
12. Representing democracy and crisis management
13. Future proofing democracy
14. In conclusion – restoring and strengthening the ‘protective’ power of democracy

Promotional Information

A practical and solutions-focused exploration of one of the key challenges of the twenty-first century. Can politics find new ways of working that will restore faith in democracy?

About the Author

Mark Evans is Director of Democracy 2025 and Professor of Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, Australia. He has played an international role in supporting changes to governance practices, acted as a senior policy advisor, and has managed research and evaluation projects for the European Union, United Nations and the World Bank.

Gerry Stoker is Professor of Governance at the University of Southampton, UK.

Reviews

At a time when pessimistic analyses of the failure of democracy have become ubiquitous, Saving Democracy provides a refreshingly clear and solution-orientated approach.
*Matthew Flinders, Vice President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre, University of Sheffield, UK*

Evans and Stoker have brought together all the most innovative thinking on how to reform democracy into one book, offering a root-to-branch review of our political systems to unlock democracy’s full potential. Brimming with insight and data, and written in a clear and accessible style, Saving Democracy will be at the centre of debates surrounding how to reform democracy in the years to come.
*Hugo Drochon, Assistant Professor in Political Theory, University of Nottingham, UK*

Democracy can be saved! Adopting a systematic perspective that captures exciting developments in participatory and deliberative democracy, alongside potential reforms to long established institutions and practices of democracy such as parliaments, public bureaucracies and political parties, Evans and Stoker offer a much needed recipe for democratic renewal. Whether or not you agree with all their proposals, you will admire their audacity in weaving together these disparate ingredients for systems change.
*Graham Smith, Professor of Politics, University of Westminster, UK*

Saving Democracy offers a unique integration of sub disciplines in and around democratic studies that are rarely combined in such a comprehensive manner. Behaviour studies, Democratic Theory studies, Democratic Innovation Studies, Public Policy studies and Transparency studies, just to cite the main ones, are all integrated, creating a systemic theory of change for democracy. The book is a perfect companion for modules in public policy analysing democratic innovation.
*Paolo Spada, Lecturer in Comparative Politics and Methodology, University of Southampton, UK*