Syllabus
Main themes discussed in the seminar
1. Democracy: one word many meanings
2. Ancient democracy and its critics
3. Republicanism and its heritage
4. Representation and democracy
5. Liberalism and democracy
6. Democracy in mass societies and its discontent
7. Contemporary critical theories of democracy: participation, deliberation, agonism
Annotation
It seems that almost everyone is now in favour of democracy. Even some of the most authoritarian regimes claim that they are real democracies or - at least - that they represent will of the people.
However, this ubiquitous recognition and (mis)use of the word democracy testifies rather to our confusion in regards of the concept’s true meaning. Hence, in this course we will ask pertinent and timely questions like: What really is democracy? What kind of values and procedures democracy entails? What is democracy’s origin? etc.
To answer these questions, we will combine both historical and conceptual approach.