Jan-Werner Müller’s Street, Palace, Square is a thoughtful reflection on how the practice of democracy shapes, and is shaped by, the built environment in which it takes place.
The practice of democracy here refers not only to lawmaking but, importantly, how citizens engage with each other and with their political representatives, in both formal and informal settings. Even with the advent of the online “town square”, much of this engagement takes places in real, physical locations: squares where people gather, streets where they march and buildings where decisions are made.
*** A version of this book review was first published in The Irish Times on 18 July 2026 ***
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