Democracy in the Middle Ages? Views from Islam and the West

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

Complimenting the overall APSA 2024 theme of the prospects of democratic government, this panel explores the foundations and advancement of democratic political ideas, principles, processes and institutions in medieval political thought. The four papers discuss the contributions to democratic government and governance found throughout the Middle Ages in the work of both Islamic and Western Christian political thinkers that inform our understanding of the origins and development of democracy as an ideal and an implementable reality.

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Politica: Study of Medieval Political Thought

Individual Presentations

• Democracy in Islamic Political Philosophy: Non-virtuous but Desirable Regime - Firooz Jafari, Texas A&M University

• Democracy in Late Medieval Islamic Political Thought - Abdulaziz Alotaibi, University of Pennsylvania

• Representation, Consent and the Aristocratic Ethos: Two Late Medieval Theories - Cary J. Nederman, Texas A&M University

• The Popular Element in Medieval Political Thought - Mary Elizabeth Sullivan, University of Central Arkansas

Chair

• Jason Maloy University of Louisiana, Lafayette

Discussants

• Alexander Israel Orwin Louisiana State University

• Gary Remer Tulane University