Postdemokratie und Citizenship. Tagungsbericht

To what extent do citizens exercise their democratic right to shape their lives and are they able to realistically contribute to the shaping of their own lives and thus also of social structures? What does it mean to act in a politically responsible way and where and how does political action start after all? Have we already reached the limits of democracy? According to Colin Crouch, we have already gone beyond the limits of democracy and find ourselves in a post-democratic time in which political negotiations take place behind closed doors and elections are held in a rather spurious manner. Thus it is no longer the citizens from whom legislative power originates, even though Article 1 of the Austrian Federal Constitution says: "Austria is a democratic republic. Legislative power is in the hands of the people." This conference report presents the tension between democracy, post-democracy and their relationship to citizens that provides the backdrop for the lectures, workshops and discussions given at the conference "Post-democracy and Citizenship" at the Austrian Federal Institute of Adult Education in Strobl in 2010.