Michael Saward 

 

Michael Saward is Professor of Politics, Politics & International Studies, Open University

Research Interests

How key political ideas change over time, and how they are worked out in practice, remains at the heart of my research and teaching.  In particular, I have written about contemporary ideas of democracy, and more recently representation and citizenship.  My work focuses on the claims that are made for such concepts in day-to-day political life in Britain and elsewhere, and how these claims link to more theoretical arguments.  At present, I am working on a new book on political representation which seeks to extend the concept to politics beyond the electoral arena, looking for example at whether non-governmental organisations can be regarded as democratic representatives. Current and future work on citizenship, conducted with OU and other colleagues through the university’s Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG), focuses on the idea of the ‘good citizen’.  I am co-directing a series of ESRC seminars on this theme in 2006-7, exploring the idea of the good citizen in political theory, the citizenship curriculum in Englsih secondary schools, citizenship tests and ceremonies, and in corporate practice.  From late 2007 I will work on a new book on ‘democracy for postmodern times’.  On all of these themes I have worked through international networks of researchers, for example directing European Consortium for Political Research workshops on democratic innovation (Mannheim 1999) and political representation (Edinburgh 2003).  I was Visiting Fellow in Social and Political Theory at the Australian National University in 2005.  I am also extensively engaged in editorial work, most recently editing a special issue of the journal Representation on ‘direct democracy and representation’ (vol.42, no.1, 2006), and the four-volume collection Democracy: Key Concepts in Political Science, published by Routledge in January 2007.  I led a series of seminars on contemporary democratic theories at the NCCR in Zurich through 2006.

Recent Publications

‘The representative claim’, in Contemporary Political Theory, vol.5, no.3 (2006).    Editor, Democracy: critical concepts in political science (4 volumes) (London and New York: Routledge 2007)   'Democracy and citizenship: expanding domains', in J. Dryzek, B. Honig and A. Phillips (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006).   ‘Representation’, in A. Dobson and R.E. Eckersley (eds), Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2006).   ‘The state and civil liberties in the post-9/11 world’, in P. Dunleavy, R. Heffernan, P. Cowley and C. Hay (eds), Developments in British Politics 8 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2006).   ‘Dog whistles and democratic mandates’, in Political Quarterly vol.76, no.4, October-December 2005 [co-author with R.E. Goodin].   ‘Governance and the transformation of political representation’, in J. Newman (ed), Remaking Governance (Bristol: The Policy Press 2005).   ‘Them and us: nationalism and self-determination’, in G. Andrews and M. Saward (eds), Living Political Ideas (Edinburgh University Press and The Open University 2005).   Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press 2003).   'Enacting democracy', in Political Studies, vol.51 (2003).    ‘Veil of influence: the legacy of John Rawls’, in Soundings, issue 24 (2003).   'Representation and direct democracy' in Axtmann, R. (ed.) Understanding Democratic Politics (London: Sage 2002).   'Making democratic connections: political equality, deliberation, and direct democracy', in Acta Politica, vol.36 (2001).   'Reconstructing democracy: current thinking and new directions', in Government and Opposition, vol.36, no.4 (2001).   'Rawls and deliberative democracy' in M. Passerin d'Entreves (ed.) Democracy as Public Deliberation: New Perspectives (Manchester: Manchester University Press 2001).   'A critique of Held' in B. Holden (ed.) Global Democracy: A Debate (London, Routledge 2000).   Democratic Innovation: Deliberation, Representation and Association (London: Routledge/ECPR European Political Science 2000). Book editor and author of three chapters: 'Democratic innovation', 'Democratic legitimacy and deliberative theory', and 'Variation, innovation and democratic renewal'.   The Terms of Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press 1998)

'Green state/democratic state', in Contemporary Politics, vol.4, no.4 (1998).   'In search of the hollow crown' in Weller, P., Bakvis, H. and Rhodes, R.A.W. (eds) The Hollow Centre: Executive Government in the Modern State (London: Macmillan 1997).   'Must democrats be environmentalists?' in Doherty, B. and de Geus, M. (eds) Democracy and Green Political Thought (London: Routledge 1996).   'Legitimacy and the state in Europe: theories, crises and complexity' in Hesse, J. and Toonen, T. (eds) The European Yearbook of Comparative Government and Public Administration (Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft and Boulder, Westview Press 1995).

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