The Quality of Democracy-Concept vs. the Quintuple Helix

Abstract

This article focuses on the virtues of minimalist vs. maximalist democracy conceptions, based on the central research: Should the Quality of Democracy be equated with the Quality of Society? The article addresses the Quintuple Helix, recently introduced by Carayannis & Campbell (2010), followed by a conceptual discussion of one practical operationalization, notably the “Democracy Ranking” developed by Campbell (2008). By contrast, a more concise model on political democracy, notably the Quality-of-Democracy Concept (QD-Concept), is subsequently elaborated and finally incorporated into the Quintuple Helix for further discussion. The primary aim of the article is highlighting the need to avoid the fallacy of conceptual overstretch in the framework of assessing the quality of democracy. Democracy conceptualizations should more clearly be differentiated from broader conceptualizations on quality of society.