Is it possible, in the complex modern world, to have a government ‘by the people’? Does, for example, digital technology help us to bring the reality closer to the ideal? Or does it actually make the ideal unattainable? The volume brings together conceptual historians, philosophers, political theorists and sociologists to discuss the criticisms and crises of democracy with fresh approaches to the idea of democracy, democratic theory, democratic institutions, trust and distrust, populism, and advancement of technologies in Western societies. Is it possible, in the complex modern world, to have a government ‘by the people’? Does, for example, digital technology help us to bring the reality closer to the ideal? Or does it actually make the ideal unattainable? The volume brings together conceptual historians, philosophers, political theorists and sociologists to discuss the criticisms and crises of democracy with fresh approaches to the idea of democracy, democratic theory, democratic institutions, trust and distrust, populism, and advancement of technologies in Western societies. Eerik Lagerspetz is Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Turku, Finland. Oili Pulkkinen is a historian, who is currently researching artificial intelligence, democracy, political subjectivity and time. Eerik Lagerspetz is Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Turku, Finland. Oili Pulkkinen is a historian, who is currently researching artificial intelligence, democracy, political subjectivity and time.