Generative Democracy: New Foundations for Democratic Theory

Democratic societies have recently seen the emergence of populist movements, including Trumpism, the Brexit movement, and rising nationalism. Normative democratic theory seems disconnected from these trends, because it does not directly address effects of institutions on citizens’ mental features – their concepts, attitudes, and experiences. Yet mental changes have important consequences for the functioning and stability of any social order.

This book will present a “generative” theory of democracy: a value theory of institutions that emphasises effects of institutions through mental changes, so-called “generative effects”.