How to Save Democracy? | Lecture and conversation with philosopher Lisa Herzog and political scientist Gaard Kets

The program began with the moderator asking the audience if they were concerned about the state of the economy, democracy, and the influence that wealth can exert over democracy. The audience was not that concerned with the economy, but in regard to the second and third point they raised their hands in overwhelming majority. This perfectly set the stage for “How to save democracy.”

Economy - for whom?

Lisa Herzog began with a diagnosis of what threatens our democracy. From the economic perspective, the main issue is that the split between democracy and the economy starts to appear unbridgeable. Over the course of the last forty years, the spheres of economy and politics have become increasingly distant from each other. This has led to rising inequality and ecological pressure. Right now, we are at a point where the economy can exert such influence on democracy that we are left with a choice of either democratising our economy or losing our democracy altogether.

As a solution, Herzog argued that we need to democratise the economy, which means that we need to organise the economy around democratic values, such as equal moral status and mutual respect. For this to materialise, we need to ask ourselves some important questions.  Should our markets be productive or extractive? Should the companies be collaborative or authoritarian in structure? Should we embrace the goals of growth or degrowth? Herzog also brought into discussion the rarely discussed topic of time politics. Do we have time to be engaged democratic citizens?

Herzog pointed out that one could object that even if we want to make our markets more productive and our companies more collaborative, we would be damaging something crucial to the economy - efficiency. She responded, however, that efficiency typically means Pareto efficiency, which does not consider a lot of factors such as equality or trust. Instead, we need to consider what should be the first-order goal for the economy. Instead of efficiency being the only logic of the economy, we can also consider the logics of personal freedom or collective welfare, Herzog claims. She argued that we should move beyond the dichotomy of capitalism and socialism and onto the “thicker understanding of democracy,” where democracy is practised daily.

Workers - citizens or minions?

The second part of the lecture was centred around the workplace. Herzog compared three types of workplaces. The classic workplace follows a logic of hierarchy of divided labour. When working on a specific task together, collaboration is encouraged, but it also follows a strict command structure. It is stable and secure, and has the possibility of laddering up. Then Herzog continued, the new workplace embraces flexibility, but without a say. The paradigmatic example is digital labour in the gig economy. There is no security, there is low pay and no prospects of development. Finally, Herzog proposed a third, alternative vision of a workplace, based around democratic principles. It could be based on board-level representation or worker cooperatives. The democratic workplace could be the organisation where people experience democracy first-hand, which can make them better citizens. Herzog ended the lecture with some directions to follow if we want to make work more democratic. We should combine the old and new approaches for democratisation, such as unions or holacracy and experiment with different forms of self-governing.

Democracy on the ground

After the lecture, the conversation between Lisa Herzog and political theorist Gaard Kets started. The ideas of reimagining an alternative vision for the workplace and making our systems more democratic were something they could both agree on. What they differed on was a political strategy for introducing the changes. Kets pointed out that the most significant social and political changes occur in times of crisis. Perhaps, we should experiment with workplace organisation to be ready for when the crisis inevitably comes. Herzog argued that there are practices, such as worker cooperatives, through which our work can already be more democratic, without the need to wait for a crisis.

The discussion also touched upon the unequal power relations between the employer and the employees. Employees often do not have the ability to negotiate their conditions, because they do not have alternative sources of income to pay for their living. Maybe the universal basic income could fix that disparity? Herzog agreed that people need an exit option for markets to be based on equality, but she countered that a universal job guarantee would be even better. For most people, work is something more than simply the income it provides. Work could be a place where we experience and practice democracy first-hand.

Announcement 

Who truly holds power in our economy? Do citizens still shape society—or have we been reduced to passive consumers? Philosopher Lisa Herzog argues that our unequal economy poses a serious threat to democracy. Join us to hear how, according to Herzog, we can save democracy—by transforming the economy.

Lisa Herzog’s latest book, The Democratic Market, was praised by Thomas Piketty as “a great book and a must-read!”

From Power Couple to Inequality

For decades, democracy and capitalism were seen as the West’s power couple. But with the rise of neoliberalism, deep inequality emerged. Western societies now face a choice, says Herzog: if they fail to reform their economic systems, democracy will vanish. When economic power is unequally distributed, those with money can easily convert it into other forms of influence—shaping public debate and steering politicians. Over time, people with little financial means lose their voice in democratic processes.

Reining in the Economy

In a just democracy, political institutions keep economic power in check—not the other way around, Herzog argues. After all, capitalism and democracy aren’t natural allies: democracy treats everyone as equals, while capitalism pits people against each other as competitors. Herzog calls not only for economic reform, but for a moral revolution—a shift in the stories we tell about how the economy works, and who it serves.

After her lecture, Lisa Herzog will engage in conversation with political scientist Gaard Kets. Philosopher Tjidde Tempels will moderate the discussion.

About the Speakers

Lisa Herzog is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Groningen. Her research focuses on economic justice, ethics in organizations, and democracy in the workplace. Her latest book, The Democratic Market, was praised by Thomas Piketty as “a great book and a must-read!”

Gaard Kets is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Radboud University. He studies the historical and contemporary development of democratic practices, with a special interest in democratizing the workplace.

Tjidde Tempels is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Radboud University and coordinator of the research hotspot Sustainable Democracy.