Performing the demos: towards a processive theory of global democracy

Abstract

Debates on global democracy have tended to focus on the possibility of a global democratic entity based on the feasibility of institutional structures that, however inadvertently, take state-based conceptualizations of democracy as their reference point. More recently, however, some theorists have argued for a more 'performative' approach that focuses on the demos rather than the kratos and the capacity of political actors to 'perform' a role as members of a global demos (List and Koenig-Archibugi 2010). While advancing global democracy debates, this 'performative' approach leans towards an overly mechanical, static account of performativity that defines democratic behaviour in terms of the ..