Brigitte Geissel

Brigitte Geissel is a Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology and Head of the Research Unit ‘Democratic Innovations’ at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Her research focuses on democratic innovations, new forms of governance, and political actors (new social movements, associations, civil society, parties, political elites, citizens). For her studies on democracy and democratic innovations, she has received a number of awards, including a Democracy Fellowship from Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a Senior Fellowship from the Alfried Krupp Foundation, and a Marie-Curie-Fellowship from the European Commission.

The Future of Self-governing, Thriving Democracies – Democratic Innovations by, with, and for the People

This presentation offers a new approach for the future of democracy and for creating democratic resilience by advocating to give citizens the power to deliberate and to decide how to govern themselves. Innovatively building on and integrating components of representative, deliberative, and participatory theories of democracy with empirical findings, it provides ideas that support communities to develop their own visions of democracy. It revitalizes and reinfuses the ‘democratic spirit’, going back to the roots of democracy as an endeavour by, with, and for the people, and should inspire us in our search for how to enhance democratic resilience.