Enabling Democracy

 In recent years, the rise of authoritarian and populist tendencies within democracies once considered stable has become a matter of deep concern. Despite the urgency of this development, systematic knowledge of the underlying causes and the mechanisms capable of countering this development remains fragmented and incomplete. This points to a pressing need for reflection on what enables democracy to function and endure. The conference takes this challenge as its starting point. It seeks to identify the social, institutional, and normative foundations that sustain democratic governance and to explore how these can be strengthened. Therefore it seeks a dialog between political science, sociology, law, philosophy, and related disciplines to chart new pathways for the renewal of democracy.

The main topics to be covered in the planned panels are:

• Democratic Capabilities/Enabling Civil Society
• Necessities of Social Inclusion
• Modes of Participartion
• Social Cohesion and Collective Building
• Education and the Organization of Knowledge
• Trust and Commitment
• Modern Mechanisms of Democracy Protection

With keynote speeches by Cristina Lafont, Astrid Séville, Michaela Hailbronner and Lisa Herzog. And many more distinguished lectures.

The conference will be held from 30th September to 2nd October 2026 at the University of Bonn (Germany). The conference language is English.