Democracy is (No!) Fiction

“This issue of “Der Donauraum” is part of the Erasmus+, the Jean Monnet Project “From Fictional to Functioning Democracy (FIFUDEM)” that the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) is carrying out in cooperation with the Danube Rectrors’ Conference (DRC). Additionally, it is based on the Kick-off Conference “Democracy Is (No!) Fiction. Developing Concepts and Strategies for an Inclusive and Participatory Europe” that has taken place at the Haus der Europäischen Union in Vienna on January 13, 2020. The conference brought up the problem of fictional democracy – a new form of fa.ade democracy that produces illiberal fictions of democracy and aimed at creating new visions for actively committed citizenship in a functioning democracy, embedded in a common and inclusive European Union. In order to achieve this, academics and researchers specialised in EU matters, as well as civil society activists, stakeholders, and practitioners as well as EU representatives were invited to develop strategies of strengthening active and participatory citizenship and functioning political communication methodologies.”[Introduction]

With contributions from Gerda Füricht-Fiegl, Gertraud Illmeier, Babrik Kushwaha, Daniela Mussnig, Edina Paleviq, Alexandra Preitschopf, Zinaida Rozhkova and Franjo Steiner.

“When referring to liberal democracy, we imagine what the Solidarity Pact calls a ‘vibrant democracy‘. It means more than voting every few years. Instead, to keep a democracy – of which civil society is an inherent part – vibrant, constant mindfulness and engagement is necessary, in the Caucasus as well as in Austria and other EU countries.”

  1. Illmeier / D. Mussnig / F. Steiner, On the Significance of Civil Society for Liberal DemocracyTo access ePrints of single articles, please visit the website of the publishing house.
  • Titel: Democracy is (No!) Fiction
  • Herausgegeben von: Dr. Erhard Busek, Dr. Silvia Nadjivan
  • Ausgabe: 4/2020