Narratives of Democracy Edited by Tim B. Müller and Jeppe Nevers The power of narratives in politics is undisputed but has not been much studied with regard to democracy. This issue aims to rethink the role of narratives in the coming of democracy. When in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century democracy developed as a social and political phenomenon – in non-linear and highly contested ways and often in contrast to retrospective teleologies – simultaneously manifold languages and narratives of democracy were produced in many countries. Presenting a number of case studies, our interest is to encourage and exemplify systematic and comparative historical analysis of narratives of democracy. How were different nations “narrated” as democratic, what reasons and purposes did different narratives serve, and how did they change over time?
Narratives of Democracy
T.B. Müller / J. NerversNarratives of Democracy. Introduction
I.HerrmannThe Swiss Narrative of Democracy
J. KurunmäkiThe Making of “Swedish Democracy”
H. te VeldeThe Netherlands as a ‘Democratic’ Country
M. BeyenBelgian Narratives of Democracy, 1830–1950
R. SaundersDemocracy in Britain since 1800
M. FalinaNarrating Democracy in Interwar Yugoslavia
P. NordNarratives of Democracy in Post-war France
G. OrsinaParty Democracy and Its Enemies, Italy, 1945–1992
Neutral Countries in the First World War
K. Gram-SkjoldagerDenmark during the First World War