Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations (Oxford Political Theory)

Around 1990, democratic theory took a strong deliberative turn. In its wake, the essence of democracy is now widely understood to be the ability of all those affected by a collective decision to participate in deliberation about the decision. The deliberative turn began as a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, but it has now been largely assimilated by these same institutions and models. PREFACE CONTENTS Introduction: The Deliberative Turn in Democratic Theory 1. Liberal Democracy and the Critical Alternative 1. Deliberative Principles Justify Liberal Rights 2. Liberal Constitutions Promote Deliberation 3. Constitution-Making is Itself a Deliberative Process The Limits of Liberalism Critical Theory Retrieving the Critical Voice 2. Minimal Democracy? The Social Choice Critique The Social Choice Critique of Democracy ls Talk Cheap? The Social Choice Critique of Voting in a Deliberative Context Tractable Collective Choice via Domain Restriction From Voting to Communication From the State to the Public Sphere Conclusion 3. Difference Democracy: The Consciousness-Raising Group against the Gentlemen's Club Models of Difference Democracy Does Deliberation Repress Difference? Deliberating across Difference Storytelling and Testimony Greeting Rhetoric Argument Difference as the Contest of Discourses 4. Insurgent Democracy:Civil Society and State Democratization as Inclusion lndusive States lnclusion in Historical Perspective Emerging State lmperatives and the Prospects for Inclusion To Civil Society The Democratic Benefits of Exclusive States Movlement Strategy and State Response Conclusion 5. Transnational Democracy: Beyond the Cosmopolitan Model In Search of Transnational Democracy: Government or Governance? The International System and its Discourses Some Discursive Contests Democratic Theory and Transnational Practice Institutionalization: The Role of Civil Society Networks in Promoting Deliberatibn Inclusion, Exclusion, and Transnational Civil Society Conclusion 6. Green Democracy Green Structures, Not just Green Values Biocentric and Anthropocentric Models, and their Inadequacies The Communicative Rationality of Ecological Democracy Democracy Across the Boundary with Nature Co-ordination Through Spontaneous Order Conclusion 7. Discursive Democracy in a Reflexive Modernity Democracy in Reflexive Modernity The Shape of Deliberative Democracy Conclusion BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Deliberative Democracy And Beyond Examines The Deliberative Turn In Democratic Theory, Which Argues That The Essence Of Democratic Legitimacy Is To Be Found In Authentic Deliberations On The Part Of Those Affected By A Collective Decision. Drawing A Distinction Between Liberal Constitutionalist Deliberative Democracy And Discursive Democracy, The Author Criticizes The Former And Advocates The Latter. He Argues That A Defensible Theory Of Democracy Should Be Critical Of Established Power, Pluralistic, Reflexive In Its Questioning Orientation To Established Traditions, Transnational In Its Capacity To Extend Across State Boundaries, Ecological, And Dynamic In Its Openness To Everchanging Constraints Upon And Opportunities For Democratization. Dryzek's Reinvigorated Approach Enables Deliberative Democracy To Respond More Effectively To The Criticisms That Have Been Leveled Against It.--jacket. Liberal Democracy And The Critical Alternative -- Minimal Democracy? The Social Choice Critique -- Difference Democracy: The Consciousness-raising Group Against The Gentlemen's Club -- Insurgent Democracy: Civil Society And State -- Transnational Democracy: Beyond The Cosmopolitan Model -- Green Democracy -- Discursive Democracy In A Reflexive Modernity. John S. Dryzek. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

In this ground-breaking study, John Dryzek argues that democratic theory is now dominated by a deliberative approach. As one of those responsible for this turn, John Dryzek now takes issue with the direction it has taken. Discussing the models of democracy advocated by both friends and critics of the deliberative approach, Dryzek shows that democracy should be critical of established power, transitional in extending beyond national boundaries, and dynamic in its openness to changing constraints upon and opportunities for democratization.

This critical tour through recent democratic theory examines the deliberative turn in democratic theory which argued that democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberations on the part of those affected by a collective decision.