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

近年来，人们对民主创新的兴趣日益浓厚。这个标签涵盖了广泛的实践、方法和途径，从大众集会和社区运动到公民陪审团和电子民主平台。在这个领域有越来越多的文献关注于理论化和促进这个松散的实践家族的实际实现。我的项目将着眼于次州的民主创新——位于州以下的政治组织，如权力下放的地区或城市行政部门。以前研究“超越国家”的民主的工作主要集中在跨国机构上。本项目将通过关注次邦的民主创新来探讨“超越国家”的民主问题。我将探讨的问题包括：在次州治理安排和大城市中，哪些类型的民主创新是明显的？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？这些创新的更广泛含义是什么，包括对未来民主治理模式的影响？为此，我将采用基于比较案例研究的方法，通过访谈和观察，比较威尔士、加泰罗尼亚和加利福尼亚民主创新的作用。该项目与Senedd Cymru合作，希望在思考和实践民主方面开辟新的理论和政策途径。

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.