The crisis of (representative) democracy has been discussed in various social sciences for decades. The democratic institutional system, which developed mainly in the 19th century, is today facing a number of challenges. The decrease in voters' interest in political affairs, the declining level of social trust in politicians and political parties, the parallel falling turnout in elections, the emergence of bubbles of opinion that also appear in stable democracies and the growing political polarisation - these are the best-known symptoms of this crisis. New technologies, such as AI, are putting enormous pressure on traditional forms of democracy and decision-making, as well as on trust in the procedural forms of democracy. All these factors can be interpreted as a crisis phenomena. However, they can also be seen as indications of the need to adapt and develop (representative) democracy, and to reflect on how the traditional democratic system can be improved.

Both our understanding of the problem and our attempts to find possible solutions and further developments depend on our fundamental understanding of the state and democracy. In order to identify the right directions, we must first of all clarify the conceptual basis from which we derive our sensitivity to the problem and our search for a way out. What do we understand by the state? What functions do we ascribe to it? How does the state relate to its citizens and vice versa? At the heart of this conference is the question of how the concept of popular sovereignty, which is now an inescapable part of modern statehood, can be implemented institutionally and procedurally. Last but not least, there is also the question of how democracy can be communicated and represented on a cultural level (signification techniques). What role do citizens play in shaping the life of the political community? What are the existing and future innovative forms of citizen participation in the technologically advanced environment? Do we need new standards? All these questions and the answers to them are culturally and historically (co-)determined, and the possible future development paths of democracy can only be derived from an in-depth discussion of its traditions.

The aim of our conference is to reflect on contemporary democratic developments and the crisis phenomena mentioned above in terms of fundamental understandings of the state. We will examine the nature of the state and its functions, and the place and role of citizens, from a conceptual, historical or comparative perspective. The conference is organised in cooperation with Pázmány Péter Catholic University - Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (PPKE JÁK). The morning session will take place at PPKE JÁK, the afternoon session at AUB.

Preliminary Programme

PPKE JÁK (Dean's Council Room)
09:00-09:15 Introduction
09:15-12:30 Panel 1: Conceptional Foundations

12:30-14:00 Lunch break

AUB (Lecture Room 6)
14:00-17:15 Panel 2: Citizen Participation in Action
17:15-17:30 Concluding Remarks

Registration will open soon.

This event is organised within the framework of the Changing Orders Research Programme, a comprehensive project supported by the Swiss Contribution with the national co-financing of the Hungarian Government. The Swiss Contribution is a programme launched by the Swiss Confederation to support the Member States that joined the European Union since 2004. The programme, which has entered its second period in 2022, aims to reduce economic and social disparities in the EU, and to strengthen bilateral relations between Switzerland and the beneficiary EU Member States.