Towards an Innovative Democracy: Institutionalizing Participation in Challenging Times

Democratic innovations designed to deepen citizen involvement, inclusion, and decision-making legitimacy increasingly face a question: how can experimental practices transition into stable and enduring institutional forms capable of sustaining meaningful impacts? Institutionalization exceeds legal codification, spanning regulatory, administrative, and cultural processes that socially and politically embed participatory practices in the contexts where they take place. This includes the symbolic aspect whereby citizens recognize these innovations as indispensable to democracy’s fabric, thanks to the authority and legitimacy conquered through their own concrete impacts. This editorial stresses that institutionalization involves balancing standardization for durability with maintaining creativity and flexibility to avoid ossification or co-optation. Hence, some challenges emerge, such as the Collingridge dilemma, according to which governing fast-evolving innovations struggles to keep pace with the incremental slow-rhythm of legal adaptation. Through a brief synthesis of the articles that compose this thematic issue, this text highlights how theoretical reflections and empirical case studies are combined to show how different political and cultural contexts shape institutionalization dynamics. Collectively, these contributions enrich the understanding of how democratic innovations can foster more inclusive, resilient democratic governance amid contemporary challenges.