Democracy in Transition

,The papers in this collection, written by a cross-regional group of experts, provide insights into the causes of declining levels of citizen participation and other distinct forms of civic activism in Europe and explore a range of factors contributing to apathy and eventually disengagement from vital political processes and institutions. At the same time, this volume examines informal or unconventional types of civic engagement and political participation corresponding to the rapid advances in culture, technology and social networking. The volume is divided into three interrelated parts: Part I consists of critical essays in the form of theoretical approaches to analysing weakening political participation and citizen estrangement; Part II is dedicated to an exploration of the role and deployment of technologically advanced media, such as the internet, as determinants of changing patterns of political participationist behaviour. Finally, Part III presents findings of empirical research on the issue of political participation. Combining theoretical and empirical perspectives, the book contributes towards a better understanding of the disquieting trend of voter apathy and disenchantment with politics in the context of the ongoing process of European integration, and offers a variety of analytical tools for decoding both the emergence of alternative conceptualizations of citizenship and other forms of meaningful civic and political engagement.

Kyriakos Demetriou is Professor of the History of Political Thought in the Department of Social and Political Science, University of Cyprus. His research interests range across nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century political thought and intellectual history, with a special focus on the history of modern classical reception, British Utilitarianism, and liberal democratic theories from the early 1800s to the present. He is the Executive Editor of Polis, the Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought; Brill's Series Editor, 'Companions to Classical Reception' and Member of the International Advisory Board of Innovation, The European Journal of Social Science Research. His main publications include George Grote on Plato and Athenian Democracy: A Study in Classical Reception (1999), Classics in the Nineteenth Century, ed. with Introductions, 4 volumes (2004), The Platonic Legend: A Study in Modern Platonic Interpretation (2008), Studies on the Reception of Plato and Greek Political Thought in Victorian Britain (2011), John Stuart Mill: A British Socrates, ed. Demetriou & A. Loizides (forthcoming 2012). He has also published several articles in international refereed journals.