ToP - Deliberative Democracy

Swift

• “Rule of the people, by the people, for the people” - Abraham Lincoln

  • Political system where people govern themselves?

• Democracy can have instrumental and intrinsic benefits

Cohen

• Democratic laws are legitimate when they are justifiable

• Deliberative democracy should have political debate organised around alternative conceptions of the public good

  • Public good benefits a wide range of people

• Ideal deliberative procedure: outcomes are legitimate IFF they could be the object of a free and reasoned agreement among individuals

• DD requires that people must be free and reasoned equals to consent to the law

• Engaging in DD also shapes the identity and interest of citizens in a way to encourage political competence. 

• When agreement fails then turn to voting

  • Different to aggregative model because voting after engaging in discussion will likely have different outcomes than those who are solely self-interested

Miller

• Favors DD over social choice theory

• Social choice theory leads to arbitrary decision making and strategic voting which can misrepresent actual preferences in an aggregative vote

• DD has a moralizing effect from public discussion

  • Discussion can reveal the best decision procedure

  • BUT people must exercise democratic self-restraint

Young

• Favors DD procedures but is concerned about potential outcomes

• Treating argument as the required form of political expression risks marginalising groups whose values cannot be expressed within the traditional frameworks of argumentation

  • (Privileging argument, unity privileging, and norm of order)

• Deliberative norms emphasize articulateness and calmness

• Redefines reasonableness: general disposition to listen and be open to persuasion, even from culturally different forms of articulation → privileging argument of DD comes from interpretation of what it means to engage in discussion

• Other issue: Common good will naturally converge to the dominant group’s preferences

  • Impact: marginalizes minority groups while claiming legitimacy

Sanders

• critical of conditions of DD

• DD will reinforce social inequalities → cannot meet free and reasoned condition

  • Style of deliberation matters 

  • Those who are systematically disadvantaged are less likely to engage in traditional styles of deliberation → their voices will be rejected for not being reasoned

→ Suggests that implementation of DD would require systems to avoid further exclusion (ie. public speaking classes)

• Proof of argument: Juries – white men are overrepresented in deliberation despite inferior education/skills

Estlund

• Political inequality can lead to overall better outcomes

• Political influence is not a competitive good → political pareto improvements can be achieved by introducing inequality

• Inequality is acceptable if it benefits everyone

  • Ex: naturally letting more politically minded people share their inputs over others

Schumpeter

• Favors competitive elitism where elites have a competitive struggle for the people’s vote