Crisis and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter considers two aspects of the tensions between governance and democracy during times of crisis. Firstly, it aims to situate the many crises facing representative democracy today by arguing against the idea that democracy is only suited to managing stable social conditions and that it should be sidelined during times of crisis and uncertainty in favour of forms of governance or technocratic rule. This neo- liberal critique of democracy is evident in claims that crises are opportunities for governance to enact political projects that would be unthinkable in times of regular democratic scrutiny (Klein, 2007), or more generally that democratic practice should be restrained with respect to the operation and stabilisation of capitalism (Crouch, 2004; Bevir, 2011; Gill, 2012). Secondly, this book navigates both normative models and empirical examples to identify public responses to specific crises. Threaded through each of the chapters is an emphasis on the political debates regarding the potentialities of promoting public participation and democratising governance to avert, better manage or even resolve crises. In laying the groundwork necessary for the ensuing discussion; this introductory chapter begins by establishing the meaning of democracy and governance, it then considers a variety of approaches to democratising governance and how these can be considered during times of crisis.