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This paper, written by John Gaventa at the Institute of Development Studies, Uk, focuses on emerging debates within what is often referred to as the 'deepening democracy' field, a school of thinking that focuses on the political project of developing and sustaining more substantive and empowered citizen participation in the democratic process than is often found in representative democracy alone.
The paper explores four broad approaches - 'civil society', democracy, participatory democracy, deliberative democracy and empowered participatory governance - and how they differ from one anther as well as from 'thinner' forms of democracy associated with liberal and neoliberal thinking.
The paper argues that democracy-building is an ongoing process of struggle and contestation rather than the adoption of a standard institutional design, and poses a series of challenges which future conceptual and practical work on deepening democracy may need to address.
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