The Politics of Displacements. Towards a Framework for Democratic Evaluation

Abstract

The thesis of the German sociologist Ulrich Beck that politics is often displaced from traditional institutions that promote democratic politics to several other spheres of social life has gained special recognition in the study of technological innovation. A case study about the introduction and supervision of a flexible public transport system shows that „displacements‟ of decision making are an inherent trait of innovation. The question addressed in this article is how these politics of displacements can be evaluated and on what ground such an evaluation could take place. Two different perspectives on technology and democracy are presented and a framework is proposed that integrates elements of both. An assessment of evaluation criteria shows that three principles should be foregrounded: representative participation, empowerment, and impact. Provided that relations of power and accountability between different settings are adequately taken into account these criteria suffice for a proper evaluation. A democratic evaluation of the case is conducted based on these criteria and conditions.