Multiple Democracies in Europe

<p>This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of democracy in Europe with a focus on the new EU member states and makes an important and original contribution to the debate on the future of European democracy. </p><p>Author Paul Blokker seeks to provide a critical reconceptualization of the notion of democratic political culture by developing a ‘multiple democracies’ theoretical approach. He draws on debates in democratization theory and normative political theory and presents a cultural-sociological approach for the analysis of democratization and democratic regimes. This approach emphasizes the historical and cultural embedment of democracy identifies a potential variety of ‘ethics of democracy’ that underpin democratic political cultures and points to the significance of democratic imagination in the interpretation and recombination of such ethics.</p><p>The book explores the relevance of this approach by analysing multiple political cultures and their role in the emergence of democratic regimes in three new member states - Hungary Poland and Romania - providing a detailed description and analysis of political cultures by means of the analysis of constitutional politics constitutional texts and political elite discourses and the identification of distinct politico-cultural elements that distinguish these societies from each other.</p><p>It will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy European studies post-communist studies political theory and comparative politics.</p>