Former Fellow

Simone Chambers

© Simone Chambers

Duration of stay: April 8 – June 18 2025

In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst

Funded by University of California Irvine and Research Center Normative Orders

Simone Chambers is Professor of Political Science at the University of California Irvine. She has written and published on such topics as deliberative democracy, referendums, constitutional politics, the public sphere, secularism, rhetoric, civility, digital misinformation and the work of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls. Her most recent book, Contemporary Democratic Theory appeared with Polity Press in 2024.

Research project: Deliberation and the future of democracy: A realistic but not realist political theory

My research falls within the discipline of political philosophy. I am writing a book that seeks to argue that deliberative democracy offers a compelling diagnosis of what ails democracy today. Often accused of being ideal, unable to address power differentials, and unrealistic, this project aims to show that deliberative democracy is none of those things I pay particular attention to the rise and popularity of realist theories of democracy and argue that they fail to offer a compelling account of democracy.


Events

4/25 Kings College London: Public lecture

4/28 Oxford University: Public lecture

4/29 University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona: Colloquium presentation

5/22 University of Vienna: Public lecture

5/28 Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz: Public lecture

6/2 Frei University of Berlin: Colloquium presentation

6/3 Goethe University of Frankfurt: Public lecture “Is there a future for deliberative democracy? Democratic theory in the age of oligarchs, autocrats, and patriarchs”

6/12 University of Hamburg: Workshop presentation, 2025, 6:15 p.m.

  • Publikationen

    Simone Chambers. 2025. “Illusive Methodology. What is Normative Political Theory?” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. Simone Chambers. 2025. “Populism, Popular Sovereignty, and Popular Rule. Democratic Theory 11 (2): 18-31 Simone Chambers. 2024. Contemporary Democratic Theory .Polity Press Simone Chambers. 2024. “The Counter-Majoritarian Referendum: Popular Voting Processes and Constitutional Change.” Critical Review 36 (3): 338-351

News from the research center

News
11.12.2025

Jonathan White on future thinking in democracies

On the second date of the lecture series "At the crossroads? On the crisis of democracy". Political scientist White discusses views on the future of democracies. A follow-up report

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News
04.12.2025

The crisis of democratic theory from a sociological perspective

Sociologist Jenny Brichzin's lecture "Crisis of Democratic Theory? A sociological intervention" opened our lecture series "At the crossroads? On the future of democratic theory". The sociologist criticized the fact that social coexistence has so far been insufficiently addressed in democratic theory. A follow-up report

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Publication
21.11.2025 | Anthology

Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers

Felfe, Jörg; Dick, Rolf van (eds.) (2025): Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers. Springer.

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News
20.11.2025

Voluntary or compulsory? Military service, peace and democratic responsibility

Review of the 58th "Römerberggespräche". The topic of compulsory military service and the question of what a democratic state is allowed to demand of its citizens were at the center of the 58th "Römerberggespräche" "Conditionally ready for action? Military service and the duty to serve the state", which took place on November 15 in cooperation with the Research Centre Normative Orders in the Chagallsaal at Schauspiel Frankfurt.

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News
13.11.2025

Goethe Lecture Offenbach on ableist discrimination

Regina Schidel hat im Rahmen der Goethe Lectures Offenbach eine Kritik ableistischer Diskriminierung präsentiert. In ihrem Vortrag „Ich kann, also bin ich?“ diskutierte sie praktische Ausprägungen und philosophische Herkünfte von Ableismus.

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Event
10.02.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Satanic Politics. Democracy after Liberalism

Lecture, Lecture Series

Lecture by Michael Rosen (Harvard University) as part of the lecture series "At the Crossroads? On the crisis of democracy" in the winter semester 2025/2026

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Event
04.02.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Demokratien verteidigen. Zur Aktualität des Gewaltbegriffs bei Camus und Derrida

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Christine Abbt (Universität St. Gallen) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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Event
29.01.2026 | Frankfurt

Civil Geopolitics and the Dilemmas of the Democratic State

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von David Owen (Universtiy of Southampton) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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Event
14.01.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Vom Retten der Welt zum Vorbereiten auf den Kollaps: Neuorientierungen in katastrophischen Zeiten

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Christine Hentschel (Universität Hamburg) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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