Book  

Empowering Affected Interests — Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World

Empowering Affected Interests explores the radical implications of the All-Affected Principle in a globalized world, bringing together leading theorists to examine how democracy might be reimagined to address cross-border interdependence on issues like immigration, climate change, and labor markets.

Book cover of
Learn more about the book

Many demands for democratic inclusion rest on a simple yet powerful idea. It’s a principle of affected interests. The principle states that all those affected by a collective decision should have a say in making that decision. Yet, in today’s highly globalized world, the implications of this ‘All-Affected Principle’ are potentially radical and far-reaching. Empowering Affected Interests brings together a distinguished group of leading democratic theorists and philosophers to debate whether and how to rewrite the rules of democracy to account for the increasing interdependence of states, markets, and peoples. It examines the grounds that justify democratic inclusion across borders of states, localities, and the private sector, on topics ranging from immigration and climate change to labor markets and philanthropy. The result is an original and important reassessment of the All-Affected Principle and its alternatives that advances our understanding of the theory and practice of democracy. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Cambridge University Press
November 2024

The Ash Center's Open Access Initiative

In celebration of over 20 years as Harvard’s hub for democracy research, the Ash Center launched its Open Access Scholarship Initiative to enhance the accessibility and the democratization of key works by making them downloadable for free.

Learn more here

More from this Program

‘Both parties now can claim the mantle of a multiracial electorate’
Harvard faculty and fellows sit in front of a classroom of students.

Feature

‘Both parties now can claim the mantle of a multiracial electorate’

From global election trends to inflation anger, swing state performance, and failed voting reform initiatives, Harvard election law experts break down last week’s presidential election and what it might mean for the future of American democracy.

Election 2024: Appreciating The Front-Line Workers of Democracy

Commentary

Election 2024: Appreciating The Front-Line Workers of Democracy

As the dust settles from the U.S. presidential election, the American public can celebrate that the election process was largely nonviolent and smooth. However, it is important that the public not be lulled into thinking this signals the end of election administrators’ problems.

More on this Issue

‘Both parties now can claim the mantle of a multiracial electorate’
Harvard faculty and fellows sit in front of a classroom of students.

Feature

‘Both parties now can claim the mantle of a multiracial electorate’

From global election trends to inflation anger, swing state performance, and failed voting reform initiatives, Harvard election law experts break down last week’s presidential election and what it might mean for the future of American democracy.

Election 2024: Appreciating The Front-Line Workers of Democracy

Commentary

Election 2024: Appreciating The Front-Line Workers of Democracy

As the dust settles from the U.S. presidential election, the American public can celebrate that the election process was largely nonviolent and smooth. However, it is important that the public not be lulled into thinking this signals the end of election administrators’ problems.

Trump’s threat to American democracy
A graph of the most important issue for voters in the 2024 election

Additional Resource

Trump’s threat to American democracy

In her most recent contributing article to the U.S. Election Analysis 2024: Media, Voters and the Campaign, Pippa Norris discusses events preceding the 2024 election, voter behavior, and what the results may mean for democratic institutions.