Title: | Can Democracy be Deliberative & Participatory? The Democratic Case for Political Uses of Mini-Publics; |
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Authors and Corporations: | |
In: | Daedalus, 146, 2017, 3, p. 85-105 |
published: |
MIT Press - Journals
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Media Type: | Article, E-Article |
Physical Description: | 85-105 |
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ISSN: |
0011-5266
1548-6192 |
DOI: | 10.1162/daed_a_00449 |
published in: | Daedalus |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Collection: | MIT Press - Journals (CrossRef) |
<jats:p> This essay focuses on recent proposals to confer decisional status upon deliberative mini-publics such as citizens' juries, Deliberative Polls, and citizens' assemblies. Against such proposals, I argue that inserting deliberative mini-publics into political decision-making processes would diminish the democratic legitimacy of the political system as a whole. This negative conclusion invites a question: which political uses of mini-publics would yield genuinely democratic improvements? Drawing from a participatory conception of deliberative democracy, I propose several uses of mini-publics that could enhance the democratic legitimacy of political decision-making in current societies. </jats:p> |