Government organization and civilized coexistence

Within three decades, democratic discourse has changed drastically. Attention has shifted from how European virtue and wisdom could be spread to the world, to alarms that European democracy, institutions, and ways of life are in danger. Backlashes challenge the democratic-optimistic faith in the ruled as rulers, rational organization, and decision-making - narratives found in both official self-portrayals and academic narratives.The situation invites rethinking, and the book offers an organizational-institutional approach to these developments, the general relationship between government organization and civilized coexistence, and how government organization, decision-making, sense-making, capacities, effects, and dynamics are influenced by institutional arrangements. Key issues are: normative, societal, and political-organizational foundations of government; whether government organization contributes to democracy and civilized coexistence; and the organizational forms through which d