The interactions between demographic structures and democracy are often overlooked, but they work two ways. On the one hand, the demographic composition of societies and demographic change have implications for the way elected governments address issues, allocate fiscal resources and represent interests of their constituencies. Demographic ageing obviously has an impact. The same is true for settled as well as emerging diasporas. On the other hand, democratically elected governments backed by a parliamentary majority can influence part of their polity via citizenship and naturalization policies as well as inclusive or exclusive electoral regimes targeting specific demographically defined groups. Gerrymandering in the process of redesigning electoral districts is just one of several examples. The discussion between Rainer Münz and Ivan Krastev explored such interactions and discussed their implications for the future of democracies.
Rainer Münz is Visiting Professor at the Department of Public Policy/Central European University and at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna and former Adviser to EU Commission President J.C. Juncker.
Ivan Krastev is Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna.
