Essentials

The overwhelming success of democracy. Democracy is doubtless the most successful governance concept for societies during the two last centuries. It is a strong brand, even used by rulers who do not meet any democratic criterion. The debate on the future of democracy has nevertheless not yet led to major innovations. Established political parties try to tackle populism with trusted resources: a combination of anti-populist rhetoric and adoption of the agenda. Some of the media have responded by attempting to become ‘more populist than populists themselves’, which is almost always at the expense of analytical depth. read more 

The curse of success. The cognitive and emotional investments into the present democratic institutions have been large. As a consequence the stability of these institutions is embraced. Exogenous as well as endogenous developments however threaten the continuation of success of representative parliamentary democracy. read more

Wide access to information for everyone. Meanwhile the worldwide web provides for a drastic change in the rules of the game. Acts of harassment on weblogs become political facts; virtual allegations become unchecked urban myths and pressure groups find increasingly easier ways to find endorsement on the internet. Obama's campaign was trendsetting for the latter. read more

From knowledge economy to knowledge democracy. During the last decade, an influential debate on ‘knowledge-based economy’  was conducted. This concept even became the main policy objective of the European Union, the Lisbon Strategy. However, there are signs that the strength of the argument is weakening rapidly.
The current worldwide economic crisis leads to new, very challenging questions. These questions refer mainly to the institutional frameworks of today's societies. It is therefore time for a transition to a new concept that concentrates on institutional and functional innovation. As the industrial economy has been combined with mass democracy through universal suffrage and later on by the rise of mass-media, one might suggest that the logical successor of knowledge economy is a new type of governance, to be called 'knowledge democracy'. read more 

Which challenges and threats will we be facing? How will the respectable parliamentary and new direct forms of democracy mix, and which roles will knowledge play in the transition towards a knowledge democracy?