Book Synopsis

The democratic deficits of administrative institutions are increasingly exploited by authoritarians to disguise attacks on democracy as democratic renewal. To counter this threat, we must fundamentally rethink democracies as political-administrative systems.

This book develops a novel conceptual framework for assessing whether these systems function democratically. This new democratic systems approach is then applied to the project of democratic innovation in public administration, exploring the potential of public participation and digital technologies to genuinely democratise the administrative state. The book is essential reading for defending democracy in an age of resurgent authoritarianism, providing both theoretical innovation and practical pathways toward a more democratic public administration.

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