BASIC CRITERIA FOR DEMOCRACY: IS RESPONSIVENESS PART OF THE INNER CIRCLE?

Abstract

Responsiveness, a basic principle of democracy, its relevance as well as our understanding of it are examined for two reasons. Firstly, the quality of democracy and with it the regression of democracy are often linked to responsiveness in public debates. Secondly, we are considering crucial definitions of democracy, which have given direction to research into Comparative Democracy. This discussions have often ignored that the quality of democracy also reveals itself via the criterion for responsibility. Which are then the necessary criteria in order to solve the conflict with in terms of democratic quality? Moreover, how far the responsiveness criterion is of limited suitability in making democratic quality accessible. Put in another way, under what circumstances can responsiveness (or its related procedures) be a suitable criterion for determining the quality of a democracy? Does a lower degree of responsiveness always indicate a loss of democratic quality? These are the objectives of this article.