Democratic innovations, sub-states, and the future of democracy

近年来，人们对民主创新的兴趣越来越大。这一标签涵盖了广泛的实践、方法和途径，从民众集会和社区运动到公民陪审团和电子民主平台。在这一领域有越来越多的文献关注理论化和促进这一松散的实践家庭的实际实施。我的项目将着眼于次国家的民主创新-国家以下的政治组织，如下放地区或城市管理。以前的研究“超越国家”的民主主要集中在跨国机构上。该项目将通过关注次国家的民主创新来探讨“超越国家”的民主问题。我将探讨的问题包括：在次国家治理安排和大城市中，哪些类型的民主创新是显而易见的？它们的相对优势和劣势是什么？这些创新是否受到现有国家和国际环境的限制？这些创新有哪些更广泛的影响，包括对未来民主治理模式的影响？我将通过进行一个比较案例研究为基础的方法，通过采访和观察，比较在威尔士，加泰罗尼亚和加州民主创新的作用。这个项目是在合作的Senedd Cymru，并希望开辟新的理论和政策途径，在思考和实践民主。

Recent years have seen a growing interest in democratic innovations. This label covers a wide range of practices, methods, and approaches, from popular assemblies and community campaigns to citizens juries and e-democracy platforms. There is a growing literature in this area concerned with theorising and facilitating practical implementations of this loose family of practices.My project will look at democratic innovations in sub-states - political formations sat below the state, such as devolved regions or city administrations. Previous work looking at democracy "beyond the state" has focused primarily on transnational institutions. This project will explore the question of democracy "beyond the state" by focusing on democratic innovations in sub-states. Questions I will explore include:What types of democratic innovation are evident amongst sub-state governance arrangements and large cities? What are their relative strengths and weaknesses?Are these innovations constrained by existing state and international settings?What are the broader implications of these innovations, including for future modes of democratic governance?I will do this by undertaking a comparative case study based approach, informed by interviews and observations, comparing the role of democratic innovations in Wales, Catalonia, and California.This project is in collaboration the Senedd Cymru and hopes to open up new theoretical and policy avenues in thinking and practising democracy.