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The concept of deliberative democracy and its feasibility

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Final paper outline

The concept of deliberative democracy and its feasibility

Introduction

“Deliberative democracy” is part of these new expressions we hear everywhere and all the time. The need for deliberative democracy is regularly advanced by the citizens, and so called “deliberative” or “participative” procedures have been applied in several countries over the last decade. However the definition of deliberative democracy, its value and its concrete implications remain blur for many people, and this term seems to be used with quite different meanings among journalists, politicians and even political theorists.

What does “deliberative (or participative) democracy mean? Is it a whole system, an alternative to representative democracy, or its complement? Is deliberative democracy the optimal definition of democracy? What are its possible drawbacks? Supposing that deliberative democracy is desirable, how can it be implemented? What do the existing deliberative measures learn us about the optimal conditions for public participation?

Thus, to what extent is deliberative democracy desirable and realizable?

We shall first determine the sense (its relation with the representative system mainly) and theoretical value of deliberative democracy, before examining how it can be concretely implemented. Analyzing two main deliberative measures should lead us to raise the possible optimal conditions for a successful application.

I. Reflection on the sense and value of deliberative democracy

The aim of this first part is to define deliberative democracy, its rapport with representative democracy and its possible costs and benefits.

A. The old opposition between “direct” and “indirect” democracy

1. Rousseau’s social contract and its influence on democracy theorists

The rouseauist ideal of “direct” democracy as opposed to representation has profoundly shaped the background of any reflection about democracy. Many authors have interpreted Rousseau’s social contract as an advocating of direct democracy, which would be the true definition of democracy.

Acknowledging that direct participation from all the citizens is not realizable in modern, large scale societies, Rousseau suggests the solution of representation as a necessary evil which as to be as limited as possible. In this line of thinking, the ideal democracy is the Athenian one, in which the citizens directly voted the decisions.

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This duality (democracy versus representation) has been recycled by some politicians and theorists to define deliberative democracy as an alternative to representative democracy, to oppose the representatives and the citizens. In fact this vision is both obsolete and distorted. 2. The choice of the representative system among 19th century democrats: a new

definition of democracy

In the 19th century new theorists advocated representation as the most democratic

system, and gave a new vision of democracy. In fact reading Rousseau carefully shows us that even he considers representation as the only valid form of democratic system for human beings. Besides serious studies (like B. Manin in Principes du gouvernement representatif) have shown that even in Athens and Roma there were representative instances to make executive decisions.

 “Direct (deliberative) democracy” as a whole system never existed and is not the aim of democracy; representative system should not be seen as a necessary evil but as the best system to enforce democratic principles.

 Deliberative and representative democracy are not two opposed systems: deliberative democracy is a representative system (the core democratic decision is the regular and fair election of representatives who take the decisions) completed by deliberative, participative measures to enhance mass deliberation (first democratic possibility of Ackerman and Fishkin). The concept of deliberative democracy thus permits to overcome the obsolete opposition between “direct” and “indirect” democracy.

B. The need for deliberative procedures inside representative democracy to resolve the representation crisis

1. The revendication of more participation from the citizens

Over this last decade particularly many movements have emerged to ask for more participation of the citizens in the decision-making. The feeling of a “gap” between the representatives and the people they represent has been growing and the legitimacy of political decisions is often challenged.

Thus there would be a need for more implication of the citizens in political life and decisions, at least to make their voices heard and increase the feeling of representativeness.

2. The virtues of deliberation

Deliberation in itself is valuable for it enhances political awareness and education, tightens social link, and legitimates political decisions.

Habermas and Manin insist on this idea that legitimacy comes from the formation of the “volonté générale”, that is to say from deliberation. Miller also demonstrates how deliberation permits to answer the problems posed by the social choice theory to democracy,

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by switching from a model were given private preferences are trying to be aggregated fairly (which proves difficult, if not impossible) into a model in which the choices are formed during the deliberation to achieve a common judgment about the public good (deliberation rightly applied cannot lead to populism).

C. The risk and possible drawbacks of deliberative democracy

1. The worship of the masses’ voice and the threat of a democracy of opinions

Is a decision right just because it is democratic? Taking participative democracy as the ideal way of ruling a country can lead to populism; indeed the masses can be manipulated, and even if they are not, their decisions can be challenged in their substantive value.

To what extent is the procedural value dominant in democracy? If this leads to wrong outcomes, mass participation may not be desirable. At least participation needs to be framed by institutions to avoid extreme populism, because the assumption of fair deliberation among educated and open-minded citizens may unfortunately prove utopian.

This leads to the core dilemma between giving to incompetent masses a power of influence (on the name of equality of opinions’ values) and giving all the power to elites who are supposed to be competent but are detached from the citizens’ basis.

2. The risk of incoherence and immobility

This is the problem of the discursive dilemma, which shows the likeliness of incoherence in public choices: extending the deliberative procedure to all choices of political life may lead to immobility, contradiction and inconsistence in the decisions.

This is why decision making should at the end remain in the hands of elected representatives who deliberate in small number. The topics submitted to public deliberation may also be framed (again see Miller’s view on the necessity to parcel decision or deliberative bodies).

II. From theory to practice: concrete application of deliberative measures in representative democracies

This part focuses on two deliberative measures already applied on the long term, to see what we can learn from their successes or failures. It is also the occasion to study how to enforce participatory procedures without questioning already existing representative institutions.

From these reflections we will try to define what could be optimal conditions for deliberative procedures to be successful and sustainable in contemporary democracies.

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A. An old participative measure: the referendum

1. One definition for many possibilities

Ranney defines the referendum as a vote during which the citizens express their support or their opposition to a measure proposed by a government or a popular initiative.

This definition works for any kind of referendum, but inside this general drawing we can distinguish very different types of referendum. Two main distinctions can be underlined: one about the consequences of the vote (simple consultation or decisional value) and one about the origin of the consultation (the government or the people).

These two variables give birth to contrasted situations used differently among the countries, with more or less impact and participatory value.

2. The assets and drawbacks of the referendum

The referendum is interesting in its general principle because it implies the consultation of the whole people on a topic; nevertheless the core definition of this procedure does not imply deliberation before the vote, which exposes it to the same imperfections and problems as the vote to elect representatives (abstention, selfish decision…).

The fact that people may vote without being really informed about the question asked can thus lead to another drawback, which is instrumentalization of the vote. Very often the referendum indeed tends to be transformed into a plebiscite for a politician and not into a reasoned vote about a given choice. This practice has for instance been widely used by Napoleon III in France, in a regime which remains a striking example of populism.

Moreover the impact of the referendum and its initiative give it more or less meaning: the case of a referendum which is initiated by the government and has only a consultative value may not motivate people at all, and has a very limited “participatory” component. B. The participative budget in Porto Allegre: an innovative measure for an apparent success

1. A local model of public participation (description of the procedure)

The aim of this deliberative procedure is to reverse the order in favor of the most in need population, by making them participate in the allocation of resources. The principle is to establish, beside traditional representative institutions, a participative pyramid which decides the repartition of a budget representing between 10 and 20% of the whole municipality budget.

The idea is not to replace the ordinary representative instances by this new procedure but to articulate both; besides the municipality remains in fine responsible for the decision making.

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This measure was established by President Lula in 1988, as part of the Labor Party program to reduce social inequalities and to enhance democracy. Indeed Brazil has known many populist regimes, and its democracy still tends to be ruled by clientelism; the participatory budget is designed to foster the movement towards participative culture.

C. The optimal conditions for deliberative measures

1. Local scale and concrete issues

The comparison of different kind of referendums and the example of Porto Allegre tend to prove that people are more likely to mobilize themselves on issues which are close to them, which concretely affect their daily life.

Deliberation is also more efficiently organized with a relatively small amount of people, on a geographically local scale. Thus the idea of the deliberative poll (from Fishkin) is highly interesting but cannot be settled at a national scale for it requires too complex conditions and heavy means.

2. The delicate prerequisite of mass education

Education is a key concept in deliberative democracy (and in democracy in general): it is both a requirement and an outcome of mass deliberation.

Public participation enhances public political education and information but to avoid manipulation or incoherence a minimum of political awareness is needed a priori. This is the core problem of democracy, and what makes it a perpetual building process which can be permanently bettered.

Thus we can think of Civilisation des moeurs (Norbert Elias), which shows the learning process of deliberation among the members of Parliament in the 19th century: the

same learning process may occur for the masses in the 21st century…

Conclusion

Deliberative democracy is desirable as the future of representative democracy and not as its rival: there is a need for deliberative measures to be integrated in the representative system but the core decision making has to remain in the representatives’ hands, as the electing procedure has to remain the basis of democracy.

Deliberative measures are here to complete the representative system and to better the voting procedure by raising the citizen’s political awareness and deliberation skills. It permits to renew citizenship and to give a new legitimacy to representatives which have been farthing from the masses who have elected them.

Regarding what has been already tested in several countries, it seems that these deliberative measures are more efficient and successful when they are organized at a local scale and concern concrete topics interesting the public. The mass participation does not lead to a mess when it is framed by already existing representative institutions.

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Sources used so far: Texts given for the course

Deliberative Democracy and Beyond, John S. Dryzek Deliberative Democracy, edited by Jon Elster

Experiments in Empowered Deliberative Democracy, Archon Fung and Erik Olin

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