CFP: Workings of Democracy: Practices, Norms and Understanding

Submission deadline: September 15, 2014

Conference date(s):
May 27, 2015 - May 29, 2015

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Conference Venue:

University of Iceland
Reykjavík, Iceland

Topic areas

Details

This conference is being organised to facilitate critical and conceptual analyses of democratic theory and practices. In particular, the aim is to bring together perspectives on key issues such as democratic representation, accountability, political participation and institutional venues for deliberation. Furthermore, the aim of this conference is to evaluate the role rational deliberations can have in improving democratic practices in Western liberal democracies and to investigate whether discursive competencies can be further systematically introduced into the contemporary democratic landscapes.

In 2013, the Centre for Ethics at the University of Iceland organised a three year inter-disciplinary research project, “How Does Democracy Work in Iceland? Practices, norms and understanding”. The general conjecture of the research project is that the crucial questions on the workings of democracy are about how legislation and public policy is prepared, deliberated, communicated and accounted for both in the political and public spheres.

One of the objectives of this research project is to bring current international discussion and normative research on the challenges facing contemporary democracy to Iceland. Hosting an international conference is a major step towards this objective. The conference is open to researchers from all fields of human and social sciences. We invite theoretical, comparative and empirical approaches on the following themes:

o       Models of democracy, e.g. liberal, republican and deliberative
o       Democratic role and standing of media
o       Consensus decision-making
o       Constitutions in a time of crisis
o       Accountability and transparency
o       Preparation of policy and legislation
o       The future of democratic education and education for democracy

For paper submissions, please submit an abstract (max. 500 words) in English by September 15, 2014 to Henry Alexander Henrysson ([email protected]). You will receive a notification about the acceptance of your paper by October 1, 2014.

Conference Fee: 200 EUR. Participants are expected to cover their travel and accommodation costs.

For further information please contact the organiser Henry Alexander Henrysson ([email protected]) or Professor Vilhjalmur Arnason ([email protected]), chairman of the Centre for Ethics and principal investigator of the research project.

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