A new project from Professor Michael Pal seeks to explore and develop an innovative new approach to democracy. With certain well-established democracies showing alarming signs of backsliding into semi-authoritarian regimes, and with a general loss of political trust spreading throughout formerly healthy democratic nations, the need for meaningful democratic reform and innovation has never been greater. As one of Canada’s most influential researchers on comparative constitutional law and “the law of democracy,” Professor Pal is ideally suited to take on this challenge.
He is the Principal Investigator on a new $1.2 million Trans-Atlantic Platform (T-AP) grant, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Entitled “Open Constitutional Democracy: Reconciling Deliberation and Constitutional Democracy,” this project seeks to explore the relationship between constitutional democracy and theories of deliberative or “Open” democracy. These theories propose moving beyond conventional electoral models of democracy by assigning legislative power to randomly selected groups of citizens, thus fundamentally altering democratic decision-making. While bold and potentially transformative, theories of open democracy have not to date been integrated with fundamental aspects of constitutional democracy, including protection for political rights, the separation of powers, and so on.
Working with leading academics in the U.K. and Switzerland, Professor Pal seeks to develop a theory that reconciles deliberation with constitutional democracy. The overall goal of the project is to put forth a theory that enhances democratic legitimacy by facilitating robust political participation without sacrificing effective governance, political accountability or the protection of minority rights. Joining Professor Pal on this three-year project are Professor David Vitale of the University of Warwick School of Law and Professor Odile Ammann of the Faculty of Law at the University of Lausanne. By incorporating perspectives from regions with different social and political realities, the project will embrace diverse constitutional contexts in an effort to generate knowledge that will be relevant and applicable to jurisdictions around the world.
This project is supported by a T-AP call for research exploring the opportunities, challenges and crises relevant to democracy, governance and trust. Read more about the other projects funded through this call.
Congratulations to Professor Pal!