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Theorizing democratic conflicts beyond agonism

Bibliographic Data

ID2059991
AuthorsVincent August (0000-0001-6491-2621, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, corresponding author), Manon Westphal (0000-0001-5481-2862, University of Münster)
Year2024
Volume53
Issue5
Pages1119-1149
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheory and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0304-2421 • E-ISSN: 1573-7853
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11186-024-09565-4
OpenAlexW4401645534
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited74

While democratic societies experience intense conflicts about topics such as migration and climate action, there is no sound theory of democratic conflict. Agonistic theories emphasize the importance of conflict for democracy, but disregard conflict dynamics. Conflict sociology has focused on international or violent conflicts and neglects democratic conflicts. This article shows how this lacuna can be overcome. First, it develops an innovative, empirically informed processual approach to democratic conflicts. To this end, it draws on a broad range of scholarship from sociology and social psychology, and integrates relevant insights into a processual framework for analyzing democratic conflicts that explores mechanisms of escalation, de-escalation, and reconciliation. Second, the article illustrates how this approach can ground a more elaborated democratic theory of conflict that concretizes how and when conflicts are beneficial to democracy, and explores the practices and institutions that democracies employ to cope with different conflict dynamics

Agonism · Democracy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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Unique citing works10
Citations per year5
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 9
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