A Potential Demarcation between “old” and “new” democratic theory? An attempt at positioning a segment of the extant literature

This article will try to argue, in a purposefully broad way, that certain works in the literature (arguably concerning certain aspects of the history of democracy, social theory and contemporary democracy theory) can be organised to form a logical point of demarcation between 'old' and 'new' understandings of 'democracy'. This work will tie in the recent theory of 'basic' democracy as well as Beck and Grande’s (2010) work on the varieties of 2nd Modernity. It will also bring in the works of John Keane (2009), Benjamin Isakhan and Stephen Stockwell (2011). It is hoped that this article might contribute in some small way to the “democratization of democracy” and promote 'democracy’s' potential “new” narrative. This work is limited by its chosen literature, and by its broad scope, but the commentary may be of some use to further thought.