Democrazia complessa: una critica della democrazia digitale deliberativa

Abstract

The study of the Internet as a potential public sphere, as a place of citizensO empowerment, calls for a critical awareness of democratic theory. We have to account for the democratic values we apply to designs of public spheres on the Internet. In the last decade, deliberative democracy has been very popular among scholars of the Internet. In democratic theory, this model is usually contrasted with two other models, i.e., the republican and the liberal. In this paper, I will argue that democratic theorists have systematically neglected a fourth model of democracy. By analyzing Jon ElsterOs three varieties of political theory and Seyla BenhabibOs three models of public space, I shall demonstrate this blind spot. Furthermore, I will argue that this blind spot is detrimental in research on the Internet as a public sphere. In its basic values, this fourth model, which I call complex democracy, is diametrically opposed to the deliberative model of democracy. Therefore, in arguing its adequacy, I will provide a substantive critique of deliberative democracy. This seems highly relevant, since theories of digital democracy are biased towards deliberative democracy. I conclude by sketching a complex model of digital democracy.