Democratic Deliberation in the Modern World

Democratic Deliberation in the Modern World PDF Author: Paul Gunn
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135156983X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Would ordinary citizens benefit if public decisions were increasingly based on an inclusive and fair exchange of reasons rather than mere voting or choices in the market? Debates amongst deliberative democrats often proceed as though this process of public reasoning is precisely what the democratic ideals of freedom and equality require. Less attention has been paid to whether an inclusive and fair exchange of reasons is possible in any realistic modern setting, and what the effects would be of trying to move democratic institutions in a deliberative direction. To examine these effects, the contributors to this collection of essays bring together a number of analyses of the practical implications of expanding deliberative processes. Some consider the prevailing epistemic conditions in modern societies and their likely effects on deliberative reasoning. Others discuss the politics of these societies, and especially the likely effects of existing political divisions on democratic deliberation. Lastly, the question of what we might hope to see and what we might hope to avoid from political argument is addressed. Considered together, these three foci should equip readers to decide whether deliberative democracy is feasible and, if so, if it is desirable.This book was published as a special issue of Critical Review.

Democratic Deliberation in the Modern World

Democratic Deliberation in the Modern World PDF Author: Paul Gunn
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135156983X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book Here

Book Description
Would ordinary citizens benefit if public decisions were increasingly based on an inclusive and fair exchange of reasons rather than mere voting or choices in the market? Debates amongst deliberative democrats often proceed as though this process of public reasoning is precisely what the democratic ideals of freedom and equality require. Less attention has been paid to whether an inclusive and fair exchange of reasons is possible in any realistic modern setting, and what the effects would be of trying to move democratic institutions in a deliberative direction. To examine these effects, the contributors to this collection of essays bring together a number of analyses of the practical implications of expanding deliberative processes. Some consider the prevailing epistemic conditions in modern societies and their likely effects on deliberative reasoning. Others discuss the politics of these societies, and especially the likely effects of existing political divisions on democratic deliberation. Lastly, the question of what we might hope to see and what we might hope to avoid from political argument is addressed. Considered together, these three foci should equip readers to decide whether deliberative democracy is feasible and, if so, if it is desirable.This book was published as a special issue of Critical Review.

Deliberative Democracy

Deliberative Democracy PDF Author: Jon Elster
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521596961
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
This volume assesses the strengths and weaknesses of deliberative democracy.

Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early American Republic

Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early American Republic PDF Author: Sandra M. Gustafson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226311295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Deliberation, in recent years, has emerged as a form of civic engagement worth reclaiming. In this persuasive book, Sandra M. Gustafson combines historical literary analysis and political theory in order to demonstrate that current democratic practices of deliberation are rooted in the civic rhetoric that flourished in the early American republic. Though the U.S. Constitution made deliberation central to republican self-governance, the ethical emphasis on group deliberation often conflicted with the rhetorical focus on persuasive speech. From Alexis de Tocqueville’s ideas about the deliberative basis of American democracy through the works of Walt Whitman, John Dewey, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Gustafson shows how writers and speakers have made the aesthetic and political possibilities of deliberation central to their autobiographies, manifestos, novels, and orations. Examining seven key writers from the early American republic—including James Fenimore Cooper, David Crockett, and Daniel Webster—whose works of deliberative imagination explored the intersections of style and democratic substance, Gustafson offers a mode of historical and textual analysis that displays the wide range of resources imaginative language can contribute to political life.

The Australian Citizens’ Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy

The Australian Citizens’ Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy PDF Author: Lyn Carson
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271069074
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
Growing numbers of scholars, practitioners, politicians, and citizens recognize the value of deliberative civic engagement processes that enable citizens and governments to come together in public spaces and engage in constructive dialogue, informed discussion, and decisive deliberation. This book seeks to fill a gap in empirical studies in deliberative democracy by studying the assembly of the Australian Citizens’ Parliament (ACP), which took place in Canberra on February 6–8, 2009. The ACP addressed the question “How can the Australian political system be strengthened to serve us better?” The ACP’s Canberra assembly is the first large-scale, face-to-face deliberative project to be completely audio-recorded and transcribed, enabling an unprecedented level of qualitative and quantitative assessment of participants’ actual spoken discourse. Each chapter reports on different research questions for different purposes to benefit different audiences. Combined, they exhibit how diverse modes of research focused on a single event can enhance both theoretical and practical knowledge about deliberative democracy.

Deliberative Democracy in America

Deliberative Democracy in America PDF Author: Ethan J. Leib
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271045290
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
We are taught in civics class that the Constitution provides for three basic branches of government: executive, judicial, and legislative. While the President and Congress as elected by popular vote are representative, can they really reflect accurately the will and sentiment of the populace? Or do money and power dominate everyday politics to the detriment of true self-governance? Is there a way to put &"We the people&" back into government? Ethan Leib thinks there is and offers this blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government. At the heart of his scheme is a process for the adjudication of issues of public policy by assemblies of randomly selected citizens convened to debate and vote on the issues, resulting in the enactment of laws subject both to judicial review and to possible veto by the executive and legislative branches. The &"popular&" branch would fulfill a purpose similar to the ballot initiative and referendum but avoid the shortcomings associated with those forms of direct democracy. Leib takes special pains to show how this new branch would be integrated with the already existing governmental and political institutions of our society, including administrative agencies and political parties, and would thus complement rather than supplant them.

Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions Catching the Deliberative Wave

Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions Catching the Deliberative Wave PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264725903
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Public authorities from all levels of government increasingly turn to Citizens' Assemblies, Juries, Panels and other representative deliberative processes to tackle complex policy problems ranging from climate change to infrastructure investment decisions. They convene groups of people representing a wide cross-section of society for at least one full day – and often much longer – to learn, deliberate, and develop collective recommendations that consider the complexities and compromises required for solving multifaceted public issues.

Deliberative Systems

Deliberative Systems PDF Author: John Parkinson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107025397
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
A major new statement of deliberative theory that shows how states, even transnational systems, can be deliberatively democratic.

Democracy, Deliberation, and Education

Democracy, Deliberation, and Education PDF Author: Robert Asen
Publisher: Penn State University Press
ISBN: 9780271067094
Category : Deliberative democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Robert Asen explores the ways that school board members in the U.S. engage each other to make decisions for their local communities. He addresses issues of ideology, scarcity, expertise, and trust while examining the perils and promise of local policymaking"--Provided by publisher.

Deliberative Democracy

Deliberative Democracy PDF Author: Ian O'Flynn
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509523499
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
Today, deliberative democracy is the most widely discussed theory of democracy. Its proponents argue that important decisions of law and policy should ideally turn not on the force of numbers but on the force of the better argument. However, it continues to strike some as little more than wishful thinking. In this new book, Ian O’Flynn examines how the concept has developed over recent decades, the family disagreements which have emerged, and the criticisms that have been levelled at it. Grappling with the familiar charge that ordinary people lack the motivation and capacity for meaningful deliberation, O’Flynn considers the example of deliberative polls and citizens’ assemblies and critically assesses how such forums can fit within a broader democratic system. He then considers the implications of deliberative democracy for multicultural and multi-ethnic societies before turning to the prospects for the most ambitious deliberative project of all: global deliberative democracy. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of democratic theory, as well as anyone who is curious about the prospects for more rational decision-making in an age of populist passion.

Deliberative Democracy and Social Movements

Deliberative Democracy and Social Movements PDF Author: Andrea Felicetti
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1786601664
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Deliberative democracy is increasingly central in democratic theory and its concepts are employed in a growing number of fields, including social movement studies and environmental politics. At the same time, contemporary citizen activism seems to feature some forms of engagement that resonate with deliberative democratic ideas. This book provides an in-depth investigation of the qualities of citizens’ engagement from a deliberative democratic standpoint. The key concept through which such qualities are investigated is ‘deliberative capacity’, the extent to which organisations host authentic, inclusive, and consequential discursive processes. This book is based on a comparative study of four grassroots local initiatives, two from Australia (in Tasmania and Queensland) and two from Italy (in Emilia-Romagna and Sicily). By offering a critical assessment of deliberation in social movement organisations, this study identifies key aspects affecting their ability to pursue democratic deliberation and sheds new light on the role of community actors in deliberative democracy.