Participatory Democratic Innovations in Southeast Europe: How to Engage in Flawed Democracies

This volume strengthens the dialogue between conceptual perspectives, approaches and fields on deliberative and participatory forms of democratic innovation and offers novel insights, focusing on the Southeast European space. Traditional forms of participation seem insufficient in satisfying the growing complexity of the democratic processes, especially in the context of autocratizing societies. It is crucial to examine the possibilities of democratic innovation in political research and practice, trying to establish a connection between the possibilities and limits of representative democracy and social movements as possible carriers of the process of democratic innovation. This book offers novel insights into practices of civil society and social movements and their pathways carved to initiate a deep change in political thinking and practice and compelling insights for scholars and students of Southeast Europe, social movements and democracy.

Irena Fiket is a Senior Research Fellow and academic coordinator of the Laboratory for Active Citizenship at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. Her current research interests lie in deliberative democracy, citizens’ participation, democratic innovations, social movements and the Western Balkans.

Čedomir Markov is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. His current research deals with the deliberative inquiry approach to audience-media relations, anti-press hostility and democratic innovations in hybrid regimes.

Vujo Ilic is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. His research primarily deals with participation in political processes, from elections and democratic institutions to political conflicts and violence.

Gazela Pudar Drasko is a Senior Research Fellow and the Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. Her fields of interest are deliberative democracy, participatory democratic innovations, social movements and gender.