Böcker av Antonino Palumbo

Thirty years of developments in deliberative democracy (DD) have consolidated this subfield of democratic theory. The acquired disciplinary prestige has made theorist and practitioners very confident about the ability of DD to address the legitimacy crisis experienced by liberal democracies at present at both theoretical and practical levels. The book advance a critical analysis of these developments that casts doubts on those certainties -- current theoretical debates are reproposing old methodological divisions, and are afraid to move beyond the minimalist model of democracy advocated by liberal thinkers; democratic experimentation at the micro-level seems to have no impact at the macro-level, and remain sets of isolated experiences. The book indicates that those defects are mainly due to the liberal minimalist frame of reference within which reflection in democratic theory and practice takes place. Consequently, it suggests to move beyond liberal understandings of democracy as a game in need of external rules, and adopt instead a vision of democracy as a self-correcting metagame.

Governance studies present the Regulatory State or the Networked Polity as superior functional solutions to the welfarist forms of government established after the Second World War.

Presents key articles on the debates of citizenship - from classic accounts of the historical development of citizenship, to discussions of its contemporary relevance and possible forms in a globalizing world.

Both the politicians and public officials are expected to be procedurally correct, refraining from bias and partiality, and to respect particular moral side constraints, notably human rights considerations. This title collects the essays that explore how far these are reasonable expectations.

Neoliberal reforms and globalization have deeply transformed the state and set in motion a momentous shift from 'government' to 'governance'. This title brings together the key articles that helped establish governance as a major field of research and to set out the main critical issues confronting this growing body of literature.

Political accountability forms a cornerstone of modern democracy. It directs the political system towards the public interest and allows the exercise of the principles of autonomy and self-determination that lie at the core of democratic politics. This title collects the contributions to debates on political accountability.