When people think about democracy, they tend to think about national elections, parliaments or the policies of national governments. Even the recent byelection in Holborn and St Pancras showed that democratic events are often framed around what they mean for the fortunes of the national leaders, rather than what they mean for daily life within a community.
But this focus on the national level and on the procedures associated with democracy is shortsighted. Our work, bringing together political theory and local politics, is aimed at developing a deeper understanding of democracy. This is particularly important when democracies around the world are coming under threat from authoritarian leaders and insurgent populist movements.
