Bard College Berlin News
What does it mean for the people to rule? Prof. Dr. Ewa Atanassow publishes When the People Rule: Popular Sovereignty in Theory and Practice
Co-edited with Thomas Bartscherer (Bard College) and David Bateman (Cornell University), the collection of essays published by Cambridge University Press in November explores the theory and practice of popular self-rule in a world increasingly shaped by populism, authoritarianism, and violent conflict.
The volume proposes that “addressing the political crises of our time—from the resurgence of nationalist populism to the global rise of assertive autocracies—requires that we rethink the meaning and value of democracy, and its foundational principle: the sovereignty of the people,” Atanassow explains. “By revisiting the theory of popular sovereignty and the variety of ways it has been put into practice from antiquity to the present day, the collection sheds light on why we got where we are today and how to begin to repair.”
Each chapter of When the People Rule “offers a fresh perspective and opens new avenues of inquiry into popular sovereignty, advancing debate over the very heart of this principle—what it means for the people to rule,” according to the publication’s description.
The volume has garnered praise from scholars around the world, from Berlin to Stanford to Delhi. Josiah Ober of Stanford University says, “The erudite and provocative essays in this stellar collection set the terms for debating the most pressing issues facing democracy today.” In addition, Pratap Bhanu Mehta of Princeton University and the Center for Policy Research Delhi describes the collection as “a refreshingly wide ranging, historically rich and conceptually sophisticated set of essays that illuminate the theory and practice of popular sovereignty… It powerfully illuminates contemporary political debates over democracy and populism.”
The entirety of the open-access volume can be read online through Cambridge University Press.
Post Date: 12-06-2023