Democracy and Competition: Rethinking the Forms, Purposes, and Values of Competition in Democracy

Democracy and Competition sets out to reframe the role of competition in democratic theory. Competition is the defining feature of modern democratic politics. On the dominant account of 'competitive democracy', competition is framed as electoral competition. This framing is shared by both defenders and critics of the dominant model, who then argue whether democracy needs more or less (of this kind of) competition. However, the contributions to this volume highlight the diversity of concepts, sites, and modes of competition within democratic politics. They ask: when, where, and what kind of competition we need in democracies today, what purposes these varied forms of competition serve, and what kinds of competition threaten democracy. This volume aims to set a new research agenda for democratic theorists of all stripes, while also making arguments about competition and institutional design that are relevant to empirical political science, legal scholarship, and studies of communication.