Overview

Dr Selen ErcanAssociate Professor

Contact

Address: Building 23, Level B University of Canberra Phone: + 61 (0) 2 6201 5774Email: Selen.Ercan | at | canberra.edu.au

Centre

Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance

Organisation

Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra

Research Interests

Theory and practice of democracy, deliberative democracy, agonistic pluralism, identity politics, multiculturalism, social movements, alternative forms of political participation, and interpretive political research.

Connect with Selen

Bio

Dr Selen Ercan is an Associate Professor of Politics at the Institute’s Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance. Her work sits at the intersection of normative democratic theory and empirical political research, and examines a wide range of topics including the politics of inclusion/exclusion in multicultural societies, the prospects for public deliberation in the face of value conflicts and polarised public debates, and the potential of new forms of political participation and protest movements in reviving democratic practice.

Selen’s publications on these topics have appeared in various journals including International Political Science Review, Policy and Politics, Australian Journal of Political Science, Environmental Politics, Social Movement Studies, and Critical Policy Studies. Her article on deliberative democracy and interpretive research titled “Studying public deliberation after the systemic turn: The crucial role for interpretive research” won the Ken Young Journal Prize for the best paper published in Policy and Politics in 2017 (together with Carolyn Hendriks and John Boswell).

Selen’s current research examines the ways in which deliberative democracy can respond to the challenges facing contemporary democracies and inform the democratic reform initiatives. This research forms a part of her forthcoming book “Connected Democracy: Public Deliberation in Disconnected Times” (under contract with Oxford University Press, with Carolyn Hendriks and John Boswell). Selen is also one of the editors of the book Deliberative Systems in Theory and Practice (2018, Routledge, with Stephen Elstub and Ricardo Mendonca) and several journal special issues including The Sites of Deliberative Democracy (2015, Policy Studies, with John Dryzek) and The Crisis of Democracy: Which Crisis? Which Democracy? (2014, Democratic Theory, with Jean-Paul Gagnon).

Selen holds a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from Middle East Technical University (Turkey), a MA in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University. She has held research positions at the University of Mannheim (MZES), Australian National University; as well as visiting research and teaching positions in the political science programs of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil, 2014), Nagoya University (Japan, 2015) and Stuttgart University (Germany, 2017).

Publications

Journal Articles

• Mendonca, R. F., Ercan, S.A, Ozguc, U., Reis, S. and Simoes, P.G. (forthcoming) Protests as “events”: The symbolic struggles in 2013 demonstrations in Turkey and Brazil. Revista de Sociologia e Política.

• Ercan, S.A, Hendriks, C.M, Dryzek J.S. (2019) Public deliberation in an era of communicative plenty. Policy and Politics 47(1):19-36.

• Hendriks, C., Ercan, S.A. and Duus, S. (2019) Listening in polarised controversies: A study of listening practices in the public sphere. Policy Sciences 52(1):137-51.

• Ransan-Cooper, H., Ercan, S.A, and Duus, S. (2018) When anger meets joy: How emotions mobilise and sustain the anti-coal seam gas movement in regional Australia. Social Movement Studies 17(6):635-57.

• Ercan, S.A. (2017) Engaging with extremism in a multicultural society: A deliberative democratic approach. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 12(2):9-21.

• Curato, N., Dryzek, J., Ercan, S.A., Hendriks, C.M. and Niemeyer, S. (2017) Twelve key findings in deliberative democracy research. Daedalus 146(3):28-38.

• Ercan, S.A. (2017) From polarisation to pluralisation: A deliberative democratic approach to illiberal cultures. International Political Science Review 38(1):114-27.

• Ercan, S.A., Hendriks, C. and Boswell, J. (2017) Studying public deliberation after the systemic turn: The crucial role for interpretive research. Policy and Politics 45(2):195-212. [Recipient of 2017 Ken Young Best Paper Prize]

• Hendriks, C.M, Duus, S. and Ercan, S.A. (2016) Performing politics on social media: the dramaturgy of an environmental controversy in Facebook. Environmental Politics 25(6):1102-25.

• Boswell, J., Hendriks, C. and Ercan, S.A. (2016) Message received? Examining transmission in deliberative systems. Critical Policy Studies 10(3):263-383.

• Schirmer, J., Dare, L. and Ercan, S.A. (2016) Deliberative democracy and the Tasmanian Forest Peace Process. Australian Journal of Political Science 51(2):288-307.

• Elstub, S., Ercan, S.A. and Mendonça, R.F. (2016) The fourth generation of deliberative democracy. Critical Policy Studies 10(2):139-51.

• Ercan, S.A. and Dryzek, J. (2015) The reach of deliberative democracy. Policy Studies 36(3):241-48.

• Mendonça, R.F and Ercan, S.A. (2015) Deliberation and protest: strange bedfellows? Revealing the deliberative potential of 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil. Policy Studies 36(3):267-82.

• Ercan, S.A. and Dryzek, J. (2015) Conclusion: The reach of deliberative democracy. Policy Studies 36(3):359-61.

• Ercan, S.A. (2015) Creating and sustaining evidence for ‘failed multiculturalism’: The case of ‘honour killing’ in Germany. American Behavioral Scientist 59(6):658-78. 

• Ercan, S.A. and Gagnon, J-P. (2014) Crisis of democracy. Which crisis? Which democracy? Democratic Theory 1(2):1-10.

• Gozdecka, D., Ercan, S.A. and Kmak, M. (2014) From multiculturalism to post-multiculturalism: trends and paradoxes. Journal of Sociology 50:51-64.

• Ercan, S.A. and Hendriks, C. (2013) The democratic challenges and potential of localism: insights from deliberative democracy. Policy Studies 34(4):422-40.

• Niemeyer, S., Ercan, S.A. and Hartz-Karp, J. (2013) Understanding deliberative citizens: the application of Q methodology to deliberation on policy issues. Operant Subjectivity 36(2):114-34.

• Kanra, B. and Ercan, S.A. (2012) Negotiating difference in a muslim society: A longitudinal study of Islamic and secular discourses in the Turkish public sphere. Digest of Middle East Studies 21(1):69-88.

• Ercan, S.A. and Pütz, C. (2006) Backstage actors of the European Union? Understanding the role of the Euro-parties in the emergence of a European public sphere. CESAA Review 34:42-58.

Book

• Elstub, S., Ercan, S.A. and Mendonça, R.F. (eds.) (2018) Deliberative Systems in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.

Book Chapters

• Marsh, D., Ercan, S.A. and Furlong, P. (2017) A skin, not a sweater: Ontology and epistemology in Political Science. In: Lowndes, V. et al (eds.) Theory and Methods in Political Science (4th Edition). London, Palgrave Macmillan pp.177-98
• Ercan, S.A. and Marsh, D. (2016) Qualitative methods in Political Science. In: Keman, H. and Woldendorp, J. (eds.) Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Political Science. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 309-20.
• Mendonça, R.F. and Ercan, S.A. (2015) Deliberation and protest: Revealing the deliberative potential of protest movements in Turkey and Brazil. In: Fischer, F. et al (eds.) Handbook of Critical Policy Studies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 205-22.
• Ercan, S.A. (2015) Democratizing identity politics: A deliberative approach to the politics of recognition. In: Gozdecka, D. and Kmak, M. (eds.) Europe at the Edge of Pluralism. Benelux, Intersentia, pp. 11-26.
• Gozdecka, D. and Ercan, S.A. (2015) What is post-multiculturalism? In: Gozdecka, D. and Kmak, M. (eds.) Europe at the Edge of Pluralism. Benelux: Intersentia, pp. 27-41.
• Ercan, S.A. (2014) Deliberative democracy. In: Phillips, D., (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Los Angeles, SAGE, pp. 214-18.
• Ercan, S.A. (2014) Same problem, different solutions: The case of ‘honour killing’ in Germany and Britain. In: Gill, A. et al (eds.) ‘Honour’ Killing and Violence. Theory, Policy and Practice. London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.199-217.
• Ercan, S.A. (2011) The deliberative politics of cultural diversity: Beyond interest and identity Politics? In: Monsouri, F. and Lobo, M. (eds.) Migration, Citizenship and Intercultural Relations. Looking through the Lens of Social Inclusion. Surrey, Ashgate, pp. 75- 88.
• Dryzek, J., Ercan, S.A. and et al (2010) Deliberative democracy. In: Bevir, M. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Political Theory. Los Angeles, Sage, pp. 352-56. 
• Ercan, S.A. and Pütz, C. (2005) Euro-parties as transnational networks. In: Finke, B. and Knodt, M. (eds.) European Civil Society: Concepts, Actors, Strategies. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 389-408 (in German).

Interviews

• Ercan, S.A. and Bächtiger, A. (2019) Deliberative democracy: Taking stock and looking ahead. Democratic Theory 6(1):97-110. 
• Ercan, S.A. and Dzur, A. (2016) Participatory democracy in unlikely places: What democratic theorists can learn from democratic professionals. Democratic Theory 3(2):94-113.

Book Reviews

• Ercan, S.A. (2017) Solidarity Across Divides: Promoting the Moral Point of View by Vasilev, G. Political Studies Review 15(2):271-72.
• Ercan, S.A. (2014) The Harm in Hate Speech by Waldron, J. Political Studies Review 12(1):137.
• Ercan, S.A. (2011) Multiculturalism and Moral Conflict by Dimova-Cookson, M. and Stirk, P. (eds.) Political Studies Review 9(2):224-25.
• Ercan, S.A. (2011) Islam, Democracy and Dialogue in Turkey. Deliberating in Divided Societies by Kanra, B. Political Studies Review 9(2):283-84.
• Ercan, S.A. (2011) Habermas: A Guide for Perplexed by Thomassen, L. Political Studies Review 9(2):235-36.

Blogs

• 2019 Reviving democracy: From crisis to innovation. Institute of Development Studies, 18 July. [Republished by Participedia, 19 July] 

• 2018 Getting to the heart of coal seam gas protests- it’s not just the technical risks. Conversation, 4 December.

• 2018 Environmental activists flip the gender stereotype. BroadAgenda, 4 December.

• 2018 Coping with communicative plenty. Discover Society, 2 October.
• 2018 Democracy needs more than just voice: Coping with communicative plenty. Policy & Politics, 10 October.
• 2018 Catching methods up to concepts: Using interpretive methods to study public deliberation. Politics Upside Down, 3 May.
• 2017 Sisters in yarn: The rise and rise of small p politics. BroadAgenda, 16 August.
• 2014 Dangerous silence: Debating ‘honour killings’. Open Democracy, 1 July. 
• 2014 When is Crisis Good for Democracy?. The Crick Centre, 4 September.

Research Projects & Grants

• 2015-2018, ‘Realising Democracy Amid Communicative Plenty’: A Deliberative Systems Approach’, Australian Research Council Discovery Project ($369,700 AUD) (with John Dryzek, Paul Fawcett, Carolyn Hendriks, Michael Jensen)

• 2015-2017, ‘Understanding and Evaluating Deliberative Systems’, International Research Project with Stuttgart University funded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) & Universities Australia (with John Dryzek, Andre Bachtiger, Eda Keremoglu-Waibler, Kei Nishiyama)

• 2016-2018, ‘Participedia’, Global Research Project, working with the Australian contingent (with Lucy Parry, John Dryzek)

• 2013-2017, ‘Protests and Political Engagement’, International Research Project funded by the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (with Ricardo F. Mendonca)

PhD Supervision

Areas of supervision

I welcome PhD proposals in the fields of Political Science/Political Sociology focusing on various aspects and practices of democracy, deliberative democracy, identity politics/multiculturalism, political communication, new forms of citizen engagement and protest movements.

Current PhD supervision

• Primary supervisor, Jane Alver, Regional Sisterhood? Exploring the spaces of talk and action towards gender equality in the Pacific region, University of Canberra

Completed PhD projects

• 2018. Secondary supervisor, Kei Nishiyama, Children in deliberative democracy, University of Canberra. 

• 2018. Third supervisor, Thaneshwar Bhusal, The democratising potential of democratic innovations in the context of municipal governance in Nepal, University of Canberra.

• 2017. Secondary supervisor, Samuel A. Antero, The practice of citizen-centric governance in Brazil, University of Canberra.

• 2017. Third supervisor, Catherine Clutton, Cultural competence in health related public policy deliberations: Engaging with immigrants in Australia and Canada, Australia National University.

• 2016. Secondary supervisor, Emma Vines, Containing English nationalism: The British political tradition and elite responses to the “English question”, University of Canberra.  

• 2015. Secondary supervisor, Cletius Puteho, Critical assessment of Australian settlement reception: The case of African humanitarian refugee entrants in Australia, University of Canberra.