In recent years democratic theory has taken a deliberative turn.
Instead of merely casting the occasional ballot, deliberative
democrats want citizens to reason together. They embrace 'talk as a
decision procedure'. But of course thousands or millions of people
cannot realistically talk to one another all at once. When putting
their theories into practice, deliberative democrats therefore tend to
focus on 'mini-publics', usually of a couple dozen to a couple hundred
people. The central question then is how to connect
micro-deliberations in mini-publics to the political decision-making
processes of the larger society. In Innovating Democracy, Robert
Goodin surveys these new deliberative mechanisms, asking how they work
and what we can properly expect of them. Much though they have to
offer, they cannot deliver all that deliberative democrats hope. Talk,
Goodin concludes, is good as discovery procedure but not as a decision
procedure. His slogan is, 'First talk, then vote'. Micro-deliberative
mechanisms should supplement, not supplant, representative democracy.
Goodin goes on to show how to adapt our thinking about those familiar
institutions to take full advantage of deliberative inputs. That
involves rethinking who should get a say, how we hold people
accountable, how we sequence deliberative moments and what the roles
of parties and legislatures can be in that. Revisioning
macro-democratic processes in light of the processes and promise of
micro-deliberation, Innovating Democracy provides an integrated
perspective on democratic theory and practice after the deliberative
turn.
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Democratic Theory and Practice After the Deliberative Turn
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191609442
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter