Transitions seminar | Deliberative systems

This thesis starts from the premise that democracy is a complex social system. It argues that by investigating the complexity of what a system is in general, we can better identify the distinctive features of what democratic systems are and could be. This thesis therefore questions what democracy might look like if we conceive of it as a complex social system. This questioning is rooted in the theoretical context of the systemic turn in the theory of deliberative democracy, and in democratic theory more generally.

From a focus on the democratic merits of a few innovations taken in isolation (citizens' assemblies; participatory budgets; etc.), a body of literature in democratic theory is now focusing on the systemic scale, i.e. the interconnection of these democratic innovations with the institutions and practices that make up existing democratic systems.

These developments (re-)highlight essential features of democracy: the contingency and complexity of institutional architectures and their constant transformation; the connectivity between democratic elements; and the agency of individuals in the task of (re-)designing democratic systems.