JUSTIFYING THE VALUE OF PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN THEORIES OF DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY: MAIN STRATEGIES AND THEIR CRITIQUE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2024-3-15-25Keywords:
deliberation; democracy; discourse; group polarization; groupthink; communication; rational ignorance; citizenshipAbstract
The article considers the most common ways in which supporters of the deliberative model of democracy justify the key element of this model – deliberation (public discourse) – as well as the most common ways in which these justifications are criticized. The author proposes a new classification of the existing arguments "for" and "against" deliberative democracy, clarifying the nature of the theoretical debates in Western political science in recent decades and presenting the normative attractiveness of the model under consideration. The article presents two types of mainly instrumental justification (epistemic and non-epistemic). Furthermore, the author distinguishes three main lines of criticism, within the framework of which the justification of deliberation is disputed in the modern Western scientific literature. All of these criticisms are more practical than theoretical. The author concludes that the "deliberative turn" in Western democratic theory has not discredited elitist and participatory approaches to understanding democracy, but has merely supplemented them with normative considerations, according to which not only the quantity but also the quality of individual preferences and political participation ("input data") are important, as well as not only an individual but also a social perspective.References
Бессетт, Дж. М. (2011) Тихий голос разума: делиберативная демократия и американская система государственной власти. Москва: РОССПЭН. 335 с. [Bessette, J. M. (2011) The Mild Voice of Reason: De-liberative Democracy and the American National Government [Tikhii golos razu-ma: deliberativnaya demokratiya i ameri-kanskaya sistema gosudarstvennoi vlasti]. Moscow: ROSSPEN. 335 p. (In Russ.)].
Аткинсон, Р. Л., Аткинсон, Р. С., Смит, Э. Е., Бем, Д. Дж, Нолен-Хоэксем, С. (2007) Введение в психологию: учеб. для студентов ун-тов (ред.) В. П. Зинченко, А. И. На¬зарова, Н. Ю. Спомиор СПб.: Прайм-ЕВРОЗНАК. 816 с. [Atkin-son, R. L., Atkinson, R. S., Smith, E. E., Bem, D. J., Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2007) Hilgard’s introduction to psychology: his-tory, theory, research and applications [Vvedenie v psikhologiyu: ucheb. dlya studentov un-tov] (eds) V. P. Zinchenko, A. I. Nazarova, N. Yu. Spomior. St. Pe-tersburg: Praim-EVROZNAK, 816 p. (In Russ.)].
Дьюи, Дж. (2000) Демократия и образование. М.: Педагогика-пресс. 382 с. [Dewey, J. (2000) Democracy and education [Demo-kratiya i obrazovanie]. M.: Pedagogika-press. – 382 p. (In Russ.)].
Дьюи, Дж. (2002) Общество и его проблемы. М.: Идея-Пресс. 159 с. [Dewey, J. (2002) The public and its problems [Obshchestvo i ego problemy]. M.: Ideya -Press. 159 p. (In Russ.)].
Зайцев, А. В. (2013) ‘Делиберативная демократия, диалог и их место в констелляции дискурса публичной политики’, Научные ведомости Белгородского государственного университета. Серия: Ис-тория. Политология, 15 (158), сс. 147–153. [Zaitsev, A. V. (2013) ‘Deliberative democracy, dialogue and their place in the constellation of public policy dis-course’ [Deliberativnaya demokratiya, di-alog i ikh mesto v konstellyatsii diskursa publichnoi politiki], Scientific Bulletin of Belgorod State University. Series: History. Political science, 15 (158), pp. 147–153. (In Russ.)].
Линде, А. Н. (2015) ‘Делиберативная демократия как направление в современной теории демократии: анализ основных подходов’, Контуры глобальных трансформаций: политика, экономика, право, 1 (39), cc. 52–58. [Linde, A. N. (2015) ‘Deliberative democracy as a di-rection in the modern theory of democra-cy: an analysis of the main approaches’ [Deliberativnaya demokratiya kak naprav-lenie v sovremennoi teorii demokratii: analiz osnovnykh podkhodov], Contours of global transformations: politics, eco-nomics, law, 1 (39), pp. 52–58. (In Russ.)].
Посконин, В. В., Посконина, О. В. (2007) ‘Значимость понятия «Дискурс» в модели делиберативной демократии’, Вестник Удмуртского университета. Серия «Правоведение», 2, сс. 47–56. [Poskonin, V. V., Poskonina, O. V. (2007) ‘The significance of the concept of "discourse" in the model of delibera-tive democracy’ [Znachimost' ponyatiya «Diskurs» v modeli deliberativnoi demo-kratii], Bulletin of the Udmurt University. The series "Jurisprudence", 2, pp. 47–56. (In Russ.)].
Хабермас, Ю. (2008) Вовлечение другого. Очерки политической теории. СПб.: Наука. 417 с. [Habermas, J. (2008) The Inclusion of the Other [Vovlechenie drugogo. Ocherki politicheskoi teorii] St. Peters-burg: Nauka. 417 p. (In Russ.)].
Хабермас, Ю. (2006) Моральное сознание и коммуникативное действие. СПб.: Наука. 379 с. [Habermas, J. (2006) Moral consciousness and communicative action. [Moral'noe soznanie i kommunikativnoe deistvie]. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 379 p. (In Russ.)].
Хлопов, О. А. (2013) ‘Делиберативная демократия Джозефа Бессетта’, Политическая наука, 1, сс. 269–279. [Khlopov, O. A. (2013) ‘The deliberative democracy of Joseph Bessette’ [Deliberativnaya demo-kratiya Dzhozefa Bessetta], Political Sci-ence, 1, pp. 269–279. (In Russ.)].
Шумпетер, Й. А. (2008) Теория экономического развития. Капитализм, социализм и демократия. М.: Эксмо. 864 с. [Schum-peter, J. A. (2008) Capitalism, socialism and democracy [Teoriya ekonomich-eskogo razvitiya. Kapitalizm, sotsializm i demokratiya]. Moscow: Eksmo. 864 p. (In Russ.)].
Bächtiger, A., Dryzek, J. S. (2024) Deliberative Democracy for Diabolical Times: Con-fronting Populism, Extremism, Denial, and Authoritarianism. Cambridge Univer-sity Press. 253 p.
Bell, D. A. (1999) ‘Democratic deliberation: the problem of implementation. Deliberative politics’. In Macedo St. (eds.) Essays on Democracy and Disagreement. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 304 p.
Benhabib, S. (1996) ‘Toward a Deliberative Mod-el of Democratic Legitimacy’. In Ben-habib S. (eds.) Democracy and difference. Contesting the boundaries of the political. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 373 p.
Benson, J. (2023) ‘Is fake news a threat to delib-erative democracy? Partisanship, inatten-tiveness, and deliberative capacities’, So-cial Theory and Practice, pp. 1–24.
Brennan, J. (2016) Against democracy. Prince-ton&Oxford: Princeton University Press. 304 p.
Cohen, J. (1989) ‘Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy’. In A. Hamlin and Ph. Pettit (eds.) The Good Polity. Normative analy-sis of the state. New York: Basil Black-well. 256 p.
Deliberative Democracy (1998) Ed. by Elster J. Cam¬bridge: Cambridge University Press. 282 p.
Dryzek, J. (2000) Deliberative democracy and beyond. Liberals, critics, contestations. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 195 p.
Dryzek, J. S. (1990) Discursive Democracy: Poli-tics, Policy, and Political Science. Cam-bridge: Cambridge University Press. 254 p.
Dryzek, J. S., Bächtiger, A., Chambers, S., Co-hen, J., Druckman, J. N., Felicetti, A., Fishkin, J. S., Farrell, D. M., Fung, A., Gutmann, A., Landemore, H., Mans-bridge, J., Marien, S., Neblo, M. A., Niemeyer, S., Se¬tälä, M., Slothuus, R., Suiter, J., Thom¬p¬son, D., Warren, M. E. (2019) ‘The crisis of democracy and the science of deliberation’, Science, 363 (6432), pp. 1144–1146. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw2694.
Elster, J. (1997) ‘The Market and the Forum: Three Varieties of Political Theory’. In James Bohman and William Rehg (eds.) Deliberative democracy: essays on reason and politics. Cambridge, London: MIT Press. 447 p.
Estlund, D. (2008) Democratic Authority. Prince-ton: Princeton University Press. 309 p.
Fearon, J.D. (1998) ‘Deliberation as discussion’. In Elster J. (eds.) Deliberative Democra-cy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 44–68.
Fishkin, J.S. (2009) When the people speak. De-liberative Democracy and Public Consul-tation. Oxford, New York: Oxford Uni-versity Press. 256 p.
Gambetta, D. (1998) ‘«Claro!»: an essay on dis-cursive machismo’, in Elster J. (eds.). Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–43.
Goodin, R.E. (2003) Reflective Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press. 279 p.
Gutmann, A., Thompson, D. (1996) Democracy and disagreement. Cambridge, London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 422 p.
Gutmann, А., Thompson, D. (2004) Why delib-erative democracy? Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press. 232 p.
Habermas, J. (1992) Faktizität und Geltung. Bei-träge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaats. Frank-furt a. M.: Suhrkamp. 666 p.
Landemore, H. (2017) ‘Deliberative Democracy as Open, Not (Just) Representative De-mocracy’, Dædalus, 146 (3), pp. 51–63.
Manin, B. (1987) ‘On Legitimacy and Political Deli¬beration’, Political Theory, 15 (3), pp. 338–368.
Mäntysalo, R., Mattila, H., Hirvola, A. (2023) ‘Institutional Gaps in Agonistic and Communicative Planning Theories. Criti-cal Implications of the ‘Systemic Turn’ in Deliberative Democracy Theory’, Raum¬forschung und Raumordnung | Spa-tial Research and Planning, 81 (5), pp. 437–448.
Moscovici, S., Zavalloni, M. (1969) ‘The group as a polarizer of attitudes’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 12 (2). pp. 125–135.
Mouffe, Ch. (1999) ‘Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?’, Social Research, 66 (3), pp. 745–758.
Mutz, D. (2006) Hearing the other side. Delibera-tive versus Participatory Democracy. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press. 184 p.
Nickerson, R. S. (1998) ‘Confirmation Bias: A Ubi¬quitous Phenomenon in Many Guises’, Review of General Psychology, 2 (2),
pp. 175–220.
Pedro, P. (2010) ‘Note, Making Ballot Initiatives Work: Some Assembly Required’, Har-vard Law Review, 123 (4), pp. 959–980.
Przeworski, A. (1998) ‘Deliberation and Ideologi-cal Domination’. In Elster J. (eds.). De-liberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press. pp. 140–160.
Rawls, J. (1993) Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press. 401 p.
Ross, C. (2013) The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Will Take Power and Change Politics in the 21st Century. New York: Penguin Publishing Group. 272 p.
Ross, L., Nisbett, R. E. (1980) Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. 334 p.
Sokalska, E. (2023) ‘Searching for a new formula of a state: international discourse on de-liberative democracy’, Acta Iuridica Resoviensia, 40 (122), pp. 124–138.
Scudder, M. F. (2021) ‘Deliberative Democracy, More than Deliberation’, Political Stud-ies, 71 (1), pp. 238–255.
Shapiro, I. (1999) ‘Enough of deliberation: poli-tics is about interests and powers’, in: Macedo St. (eds.). Deliberative politics. Essays on Democracy and Disagreement. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 28–38.
Steenbergen, M. R., Bächtiger, A., Spörndli, M., Steiner, J. (2003) ‘Measuring Political Deli¬beration. A Discourse Quality Index’, Com¬parative European Politics, 1, pp. 21–48.
Sunstein, C. R. (1997) ‘Deliberation, democracy and disagreement’. In Bontekoe R. and Stepaniants M. (eds). Justice and Democ-racy: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Hono-lulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 93–118.
Sunstein, C. R. (2003) ‘The law of group polari-zation’. In Fishkin J. S. and Laslett P. (eds.). Debating Deliberative Democracy. Oxford: Wiley. pp. 80–101.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The author grants the Publisher of the journal (Perm State University) the right to use their article in the journal, as well as to include the text of the abstract, the full text of the article and information about authors in the "Russian Science Citation Index" (RSCI).
The author agrees to the processing of personal data.
The right to use the journal as a whole belongs to the Publisher and acts indefinitely on the territory of the Russian Federation and beyond in accordance with cl. 1260 of the Russian Federation Civil Code.
There is no author's fee paid for providing the above rights by the author.
The author of the article included in the journal retains the exclusive right to it, regardless of the Publisher's right to use the journal as a whole:
a. The authors retain their copyrights to the article and transfer the right of the first publication along with the article to the journal, while also licensing it on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to distribute this article with the obligatory indication of authorship of the article and reference to the original publication in this journal.
b. The authors retain the right to enter into separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive dissemination of the version of the text published by this journal (for example, post it in a university archive or publish it in a book), with reference to the original publication in this journal.
c. d. Authors are allowed to post their text on the Internet (for example, in a university archive or on their personal website) before and during the review process by this journal, as this can lead to a fruitful discussion and to higher number of the references to this published work (Please refer to The Effect of Open Access).
Submission of an article by the author implies that they agree for it to be used by the Publisher on the above conditions and to be included in the RSCI system. It also implicates that the author is aware of the terms of its use. The information about the author sent to the Publisher, including by e-mail, is also considered as such consent.
The editorial board posts the full text of the article on the Perm State University site: http://www.psu.ru and in the OJS system at http://press.psu.ru
The publication fee is not collected and fees are not paid. The author's copy is sent to the author to the address provided by them.
