BERLIN
Polarization, institutional design and the future of representative democracyWorkshop
October 5–7, 2017 | Berlin, Germany
Polarization, institutional design and the future of representative democracy
Berlin, Harnack Haus, 5–7th of October, 2017
Organizers: Hanna Bäck, Claudia Landwehr, Thomas Saalfeld & Michael Zürn
October 5
13:00 – 13:30 Welcome and introduction (Thomas Saalfeld)
PART 1 | Polarization and the future of representative democracy:
parliaments and governments under pressure
13:30 – 15:30
PANEL 1 | Electoral systems, accountability and legislative polarization
Nolan McCarty (Princeton University):
Polarization and the Changing American Constitutional System
Michael Becher (IAST Toulouse) and Irene Menendez Gonzales (University of Zurich):
Electoral Reform and Trade-Offs in Representation
Adam Bonica (Stanford University) and Gary W. Cox (Stanford University):
Ideological Migration in the U.S. Congress: Out of Step but Still in Office
Scott LaCombe (University of Iowa): The Problem with How America Votes
Discussant: Thomas Zittel, University of Frankfurt
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break
16:00 – 18:00
PANEL 2 | Polarization in legislatures
Hanna Bäck (Lund University), Royce Carroll (University of Essex) and Markus Baumann (University of Mannheim):
A Divided Parliament? Rhetorical Polarization in the Swedish Riksdag
Danielle Thomsen (Syracuse University): Primary Turnout and Partisan Polarization in the U.S. House
Sven-Oliver Proksch (University of Cologne): Parliamentary Rhetoric and Opposition: Evidence from Canada and Germany
Niels Goet (University of Oxford): Measuring Polarisation with Text Analysis: Evidence from the UK House of Commons, 1811–2015
Discussant: Ulrich Sieberer, University of Bamberg
18:30 Dinner & Drinks in the Harnack Haus
October 6
10:00 – 12:00
PANEL 3 | Polarization, coalitions and factions
Andrew Clarke (University of Virginia): The Political Influence of American Party Factions
Hanna Bäck (Lund), Henning Bergmann and Thomas Saalfeld (Universität Bamberg):
Ideological Polarization and Cabinet Duration in European Democracies (1945-2013)
Jochen Müller (University of Greifswald) and Tristan Klingelhöfer (Johns Hopkins University):
Voters’ perceptions of disunity: Party and voter characteristics moderate the impact of intra-party coherence
Christopher Kam (University of British Columbia), Indridi Indridason (UC Riverside) and William Bianco (Indiana University): Polarization in multiparty systems
Discussant: Lanny Martin
12:00 – 14:00 Lunch
PART 2 | Beyond representative democracy?
Design and legitimacy of non-majoritarian institutions
14:00 – 16:00
PANEL 4 | Deliberative system or technocratic monster? Legitimacy, accountability and democratic control beyond representative institutions
Erik Eriksen (University of Oslo): On the tension between epistocracy and democracy
Kaare Strom (University of California San Diego): Party Decline and the Madisonian Turn in Scandinavia
Discussant: Rainer Schmalz-Bruns (Leibniz-Universität Hannover)
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 – 18:00
PANEL 5 | Expert commissions, QUANGOS, and all of that: safeguards for institutions or safeguards for elites?
Cathrine Holst (University of Oslo): Advisory commissions, academic knowledge and democratic legitimacy: a Nordic case
Michael Zürn (WZB Berlin): The Social Origins of Silent Majorities
Discussant: Miriam Hartlapp (Freie Universität Berlin)
18:30 Dinner & Drinks in the Harnack Haus
October 7
09:30 – 11:00
PANEL 6 | In a state of crisis: designing and redesigning EU institutions –
can we make the EU more majoritarian?
Tanja Börzel (Freie Universität Berlin): The Limits of the EU Regulatory State: Redistribution and Multilevel Politics
Vivien A. Schmidt (Boston University):The Political Dynamics of EU Intra-Institutional Relations in Response to Crisis: Toward More or Less EU Legitimacy?
Discussant: Katharina Holzinger (Universität Konstanz)
11:00 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 12:45
PANEL 7 | Deliberative citizen participation: complementing policy discourses or simulating democracy?
Cristina Lafont (Northwestern University): Democracy without Shortcuts:
Can Deliberative Minipublics enhance Citizens’ Democratic Control
Claudia Landwehr (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz): Democratic Meta-Deliberation
Discussant: Gunnar Folke-Schuppert (WZB Berlin)
12:45 – 13:00 Concluding remarks (Claudia Landwehr)
13:00 Lunch and departure (approximately 14:00)