ABSTRACT
Democracy is in crisis around the world, across otherwise wildly different cases. The triumphalism of the post-Cold War era is giving way to skepticism and fear as well as to illiberal authoritarianism. These crises of democracy are deep-seated; they are not just the consequence of simple institutional flaws or of polarization tendencies and new media technology. This chapter widens the lens and critiques dominant notions of national democracy – and of its crises. It seeks to understand the latter as a fundamental breaking of the promise that the Enlightenment and modernization had brought with them: that of equal access and opportunity. Building on work in cultural studies and political science widely conceived, this chapter questions notions of national progress and embeds such narratives in the broader imperial networks that facilitated the rise of the West.
