The Future of Democracy

The day will be opened by Prof. Henk Kummeling, who, in addition to his role as the Rector of Utrecht University, also functions as the chair of the Dutch State Commission on the Rule of Law. This commission is currently investigating how the constitutional state can be strengthened, with a particular focus on safeguarding citizen rights. Prof. Kummeling addresses this topic in his talk on 'Democracy and the Rule of Law: the Citizen in the Squeeze'. 

After the opening, we are honoured to host Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre at the University of Sheffield, as our keynote speaker. In a provocative lecture titled ‘The Future of Democracy: Populism, Pandemics and Positivity'. Professor Flinders will explore the current debate about the future of democracy. Long-running debates about the 'crisis', 'end' or 'suicide' of democracy have in recent years been overlaid by more specific concerns including the growth of populism, the emergence of 'diploma democracy', and how different countries managed the Covid-19 crisis. The central aim of this lecture, however, is not to add to the doom and gloom surrounding democratic debate but to corral the evidence and utilise a range of insights in order to promote a more positive, inclusive and solution-oriented discussion about the future of democracy.

In its simplest form, democracy means that people have a big say when it comes to governance. For many people, however, democracy seems to mean little more than going to the polls for general elections. They may even experience democracy as attempts to control their behaviour without too much regard for what they themselves consider important. Within the Behaviour and Institutions platform, we think about ways in which citizens can feel heard by giving them the opportunity to participate in the realisation of policy plans. During our session, we will report on this with pitches and a short documentary, and actively explore coordinated action with our participants.

This session is hosted by Platform: Behaviour and Institutions. 

How can more-than-human voices be represented and heard in the governance of fair transitions? This workshop will take an artistic approach to experiment with different forms of democratic engagement beyond voting and deliberation. We will first share inspiring examples from around the world where more-than-human voices are already being incorporated and recognized, before engaging in a form of improvisational theatre that invites participants to take on roles of more-than-human actors, such as rivers, trees, or animals.

This session is hosted by Platform: Fair Transitions.

How can future generations be better represented in our democratic institutions and mechanisms? In this session, we facilitate a multifaceted conversation with representatives from both academia and politics, and especially let the young have their say on current problems and (future) solutions . If you have good ideas and/or are curious about the opinions and possibilities of solutions for future generations, follow our conversation.

Note: This session will be held in Dutch.

This session is hosted by Platform: Futures of Democracy. 

In this panel, we will talk about various challenges to democratic continuity focused on inequalities and voting. First, we will talk about democratic values among new generations of voters in The Netherlands. How much support is there for democratic values, and what are voting intentions among younger generations? What are the inequalities that emerge within this group? And, finally, how could the possible concerns be mitigated? Secondly, we will go into who gets to participate and vote: which people and groups have been excluded or included over time in having the right to vote? And which blind spots of participation still exist that prolong inequality from a human rights perspective? Lastly, to what extent are these democratic values transferred to the voting systems within institutions? In particular, how do the voting systems in Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) contribute to or hinder democratic principles? How can power disparities among members affect the ability of these organisations to represent their interests and needs? Additionally, how does the inclusion of civil society in decision-making processes influence the overall democratic environment of IGOs?

This session is hosted by Platform: In/Equality. 

Academic freedom constitutes one of the fundamental premises on the basis of which universities operate. It serves to safeguard the opportunity to teach and research a variety of topics. Nevertheless, external – and occasionally even internal – pressures may jeopardise the teaching or research of certain topics deemed controversial in light of public debate. This session examines instances where academic freedom is placed under pressure, and it addresses historical and conceptual issues related to this specific form of freedom. 

This session is hosted by Platform: Openness Challenged: the university at risk?

We invite you to our reflexive workshop, where we will delve into the crucial intersections of transparency, inclusivity, and social justice in urban environments. This workshop aims to explore how open practices and policies can pave the way for more just and equitable cities. We encourage you to debate and reflect with us on the theoretical and empirical challenges of ‘Openness, Justice, and Inclusion’ in global and local contexts, unpacking how power relations and epistemic inclusions/erasures are contested in everyday lives of urban residents.

This session is hosted by Platform: Open Cities

In this session, our aim is to build bridges between IOS and different research communities within the strategic theme Pathways to Sustainability (PtS). We do so by exploring common ground and shared interests, specifically focusing on the topic of bottom-up initiatives in sustainability transitions. Bottom-up initiatives geared toward achieving sustainability objectives, such as energy cooperatives, sustainable entrepreneurship or food forests, play increasingly important roles in sustainability transitions. Nonetheless, these bottom-up initiatives often face challenges - be they legal, organizational, social, or technological - that hinder their full participation in energy transitions, while substantial potential from other (perhaps less formally structured). We invite IOS and PtS scholars to explore and concretise different potential collaborations to collectively reflect on and address these challenges.

This session is hosted by platform Bottom-up Initiatives for Societal Change.

The Interdisciplinary Playground series is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue, we see the challenges that you come across working with different disciplines to be a major challenge for successful inter-faculty collaboration under the platform umbrellas. The Playground series consists of play/games-based activities that are intended to capture members’ experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration, help members reflect on the assumptions at the heart of their disciplines, learn more about the structures and priorities of other disciplines and get to know each other all around the theme of Future of Democracy.

Note that this is a two-hour session and will overlap break-out sessions #2 and #3. 

This session is hosted by Platform: Contesting Governance. 

The EU platform will reflect on the future of democracy in the EU. Which scenarios can be envisaged regarding democracy of the EU and in its Member States? The session will comprise short discussion openers, poetry, and small-group interactive discussion to build the scenarios.

Note that this is a two-hour session and will overlap break-out sessions #2 and #3. 

This session is hosted by Platform: EU Platform. 

In this panel discussion, the Longtermism and Institutional Change platform will examine how best to represent the rights of future generations, tying in with current calls for a national Ombudsman for Future Generations.

This session is hosted by Platform: Longtermism and Institutional Change. 

This session will focus on how women’s representation in politics can be promoted as well as maintained, starting from the premise that it is the institutions that need fixing and not women. It will zoom in on how – political – leadership is understood and visualised; what specific obstacles there are for women in political leadership positions and best practices to overcome these; how a more socially secure climate can be created in which female leadership can flourish; and how political leadership can be transformed in such a way that it values more qualities that are more associated with women. Using the platform’s developed research method of the institutional – symbolical – empirical, the session will involve short pitches, outcome visualisations and a panel discussion that will involve political representatives, civil society and other organisations.

This session is hosted by Platform: Gender, Diversity and Global Justice. 

This interactive session on corporate democracy will entail a simulation (or role-play) of the corporate decision-making process in which a range of (conflicting) stakeholder interests are involved. This session is aimed at demonstrating the tension between the interests of shareholders and broader societal values in corporate decision-making, as well as the differences between 'public' and 'corporate democracy'. The case will be based on actual business-cases in which these tensions played a significant role in decision-making (f.i. conflict between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, ongoing conflict with certificate owners of Triodos Bank etc.). Participants of this simulation will act as representatives of various corporate stakeholder-groups.

Note that this is a two-hour session and will overlap break-out sessions #2 and #3. 

This session is hosted by Platform: Markets and Corporations. 

Under the influence of demographic developments such as de-greening and ageing, the labour market is no longer a market where there is always enough supply to fill all positions in society. Shortages will prevail in the coming decades, and the question is how we as a society are going to manage to fill the jobs we consider most important. If we leave it to the market, there may soon be enough people to load and unload your suitcases at Schiphol Airport, but not enough people to take care of your 90-year-old (in-law) parents or keep the daycare centre open. The question is: should/may/can we intervene in this process and who should do so? How far are we willing to go in this? Some advocate more migration, more working hours and the use of more technology to address the problem of labour market tightness, but again, do we leave this to the individual choices of employers and employees or do we need a "visible hand" to pull the strings to ensure that the public interest (also) remains sufficiently in focus in the labour market?

This session is hosted by Platform: Future of Work. 

More and more people participate in disruptive protests to address their climate concerns. Why do people participate in civil disobedience? When do disruptive actions go too far? And what does the future of (climate) protest look like? Through timely societal examples, recent scientific insights, and interactive exercises, these questions will be addressed. 

This session is hosted by Platform: Security in Open Societies. 

What should be the role of society when decisions are made about taxpayers' money? To what extent does democracy merit direct involvement of the people? While the instrumental role of Public Procurement as an important tool to promote a just society is increasingly recognised, the only parties with a procedural role in public tenders are public authorities and market participants; so not the citizens whose interests are at stake. Mandatory participation or consultation of other societal stakeholders does not exist. How do we achieve a more equitable system of distribution and award of contracts and rights by governments in such a context? Is there really a democratic gap in the system and, if so, how could it be resolved? During this session, we propose (and discuss) innovative proposals to enhance democracy and the rule of law.

This session is hosted by platform: The Transactional State as an Institution for Good. 

Without press freedom, there is no academic freedom. Media freedom has been deteriorating in the larger European region and our open societies. This is an alarming development as freedom of expression and media freedom are a precondition for a well-functioning democracy and an open society. Press freedom and access to independent information are particularly vital in (open) societies in which notions of human rights, democracy and the rule of law are under pressure; they can never be taken for granted and requires constant attention and commitment in every country. What is the role of academia in this all? Is academic freedom in danger as press freedom is under pressure?

In this panel discussions, scholars and experts will reflect on these themes. Speakers include UU’s  Dr. Catalina Goanta and Prof. Bruce Mutsvairo, Nada Josimovic (Free Press Unlimited) and Klaas van Dijken (Director of Lighthouse Reports).