Rethinking Democracy: Challenges for global and local governance: Interview with Wil Hout

In this interview by Yazid Zahda (YZ), Wil Hout (WH), Professor of Governance and International Political Economy at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) Erasmus University, the Hague, reflects on challenges that democracy is facing and the need to continuously rethink what democracy is and means, and how this relates to reality. In particular, he argues that democracy, and democratic development, is much more of a local process than we might be willing to acknowledge and that external interventions aimed at promoting democracy need to be aware of this – that ultimately, it is the local and national dynamics and political economy that count much more than external influences.