Critical Theories of Deliberative Democracy and the Problem of Citizenship

Abstract

Deliberative democracy offers a promising extension of, and alternative to, liberal and republican theories and practices. For many advocates, the procedures of deliberative democracy provide a stronger source of political legitimacy for collective decisions than liberal or republican democracy can offer. For others, deliberative democracy can improve methods for solving political problems. Because of its procedures, it may be more likely to produce the truth about an issue, which can then be the basis of better informed decisions that may in turn, be more likely to generate political consensus.1 Another advantage of deliberative democracy is that it negates or modifies the influence of money and power in political decisionmaking. Where the values of communicative reason are applied, the force of the better argument is supposed to prevail over wealth, political influence, and the use of coercive methods such as violence and intimidation.KeywordsLiberal DemocracyPublic ReasonCitizen ParticipationDeliberative DemocracyDeliberative ProcessThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.