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Abstract

We are on the way to post-democracy – but where are we today? This article discusses the post-democracy thesis against the background of recent social problems such as the Corona pandemic, the rise of right-wing populism and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. On the one hand, these problems indicate that Western democracies have taken a further step towards post-democracy. On the other hand, democratic potentials, such as a strengthening civil society and supranational democratic institutions, were also revealed in dealing with these problems. The article argues that in order to counteract post-democratic tendencies, both formal and informal democratic elements need to be strengthened and that it is more necessary than ever to build “bridges” between the two.