Deliberative Democracy In America

Author : Ethan J. Leib
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2010-11-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0271045299

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Deliberative Democracy in America by Ethan J. Leib Pdf

We are taught in civics class that the Constitution provides for three basic branches of government: executive, judicial, and legislative. While the President and Congress as elected by popular vote are representative, can they really reflect accurately the will and sentiment of the populace? Or do money and power dominate everyday politics to the detriment of true self-governance? Is there a way to put &"We the people&" back into government? Ethan Leib thinks there is and offers this blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government. At the heart of his scheme is a process for the adjudication of issues of public policy by assemblies of randomly selected citizens convened to debate and vote on the issues, resulting in the enactment of laws subject both to judicial review and to possible veto by the executive and legislative branches. The &"popular&" branch would fulfill a purpose similar to the ballot initiative and referendum but avoid the shortcomings associated with those forms of direct democracy. Leib takes special pains to show how this new branch would be integrated with the already existing governmental and political institutions of our society, including administrative agencies and political parties, and would thus complement rather than supplant them.

Author : Joseph M. Bessette
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0226044246

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The Mild Voice of Reason by Joseph M. Bessette Pdf

In recent years, many Americans and more than a few political scientists have come to believe that democratic deliberation in Congress—whereby judgments are made on the merits of policies reflecting the interests and desires of American citizens—is more myth than reality. Rather, pressure from special interest groups, legislative bargaining, and the desire of incumbents to be reelected are thought to originate in American legislative politics. While not denying such influences, Joseph M. Bessette argues that the institutional framework created by the founding fathers continues to foster a government that is both democratic and deliberative, at least to some important degree. Drawing on original research, case studies of policymaking in Congress, and portraits of American lawmakers, Bessette demonstrates not only the limitations of nondeliberative explanations for how laws are made but also the continued vitality of genuine reasoning on the merits of public policy. Bessette discusses the contributions of the executive branch to policy deliberation, and looks at the controversial issue of the proper relationship of public opinion to policymaking. Informed by Bessette's nine years of public service in city and federal government, The Mild Voice of Reason offers important insights into the real workings of American democracy, articulates a set of standards by which to assess the workings of our governing institutions, and clarifies the forces that promote or inhibit the collective reasoning about common goals so necessary to the success of American democracy. "No doubt the best-publicized recent book-length work on Congress is columnist George Will's diatribe in praise of term limits in which the core of his complaint is that Congress does not deliberate in its decision-making. Readers who are inclined to share that fantasy would do well to consult the work of Joseph M. Bessette. He turns up massive amounts of material attesting to the centrality of deliberation in congressional life."—Nelson W. Polsby, Presidential Studies Quarterly

Author : Amy Gutmann,Dennis F. Thompson
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2009-01-10
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781400826339

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Why Deliberative Democracy? by Amy Gutmann,Dennis F. Thompson Pdf

The most widely debated conception of democracy in recent years is deliberative democracy--the idea that citizens or their representatives owe each other mutually acceptable reasons for the laws they enact. Two prominent voices in the ongoing discussion are Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson. In Why Deliberative Democracy?, they move the debate forward beyond their influential book, Democracy and Disagreement. What exactly is deliberative democracy? Why is it more defensible than its rivals? By offering clear answers to these timely questions, Gutmann and Thompson illuminate the theory and practice of justifying public policies in contemporary democracies. They not only develop their theory of deliberative democracy in new directions but also apply it to new practical problems. They discuss bioethics, health care, truth commissions, educational policy, and decisions to declare war. In "What Deliberative Democracy Means," which opens this collection of essays, they provide the most accessible exposition of deliberative democracy to date. They show how deliberative democracy should play an important role even in the debates about military intervention abroad. Why Deliberative Democracy? contributes to our understanding of how democratic citizens and their representatives can make justifiable decisions for their society in the face of the fundamental disagreements that are inevitable in diverse societies. Gutmann and Thompson provide a balanced and fair-minded approach that will benefit anyone intent on giving reason and reciprocity a more prominent place in politics than power and special interests.

Author : Sandra M. Gustafson
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2011-05-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226311296

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Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early American Republic by Sandra M. Gustafson Pdf

Deliberation, in recent years, has emerged as a form of civic engagement worth reclaiming. In this persuasive book, Sandra M. Gustafson combines historical literary analysis and political theory in order to demonstrate that current democratic practices of deliberation are rooted in the civic rhetoric that flourished in the early American republic. Though the U.S. Constitution made deliberation central to republican self-governance, the ethical emphasis on group deliberation often conflicted with the rhetorical focus on persuasive speech. From Alexis de Tocqueville’s ideas about the deliberative basis of American democracy through the works of Walt Whitman, John Dewey, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Gustafson shows how writers and speakers have made the aesthetic and political possibilities of deliberation central to their autobiographies, manifestos, novels, and orations. Examining seven key writers from the early American republic—including James Fenimore Cooper, David Crockett, and Daniel Webster—whose works of deliberative imagination explored the intersections of style and democratic substance, Gustafson offers a mode of historical and textual analysis that displays the wide range of resources imaginative language can contribute to political life.

Author : Jose Luis Marti,Samantha Besson
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2017-03-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781351945462

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Deliberative Democracy and its Discontents by Jose Luis Marti,Samantha Besson Pdf

Drawing on political, legal, national, post-national, as well as American and European perspectives, this collection of essays offers a diverse and balanced discussion of the current arguments concerning deliberative democracy. Its contributions' focus on discontent, provide a critical assessment of the benefits of deliberation and also respond to the strongest criticisms of the idea of democratic deliberation. The essays consider the three basic questions of why, how and where to deliberate democratically. This book will be of value not only to political and democratic theorists, but also to legal philosophers and constitutional theorists, and all those interested in the legitimacy of decision-making in national and post-national pluralistic polities.

Author : Jon Elster
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1998-03-28
Category : Education
ISBN : 0521596963

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Deliberative Democracy by Jon Elster Pdf

This volume assesses the strengths and weaknesses of deliberative democracy.

Author : Donald R. Wolfensberger
Publisher : Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2001-04-27
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0801867266

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Congress and the People by Donald R. Wolfensberger Pdf

Will some form of direct democracy supplant representative, deliberative government in the twenty-first century United States? That question is at the heart of Donald R. Wolfensberger's history of Congress and congressional reform, which runs back to the Constitution's creation of a popularly elected House of Representatives and forward to the surreal ending of the 105th Congress, featuring barrels of pork, resignation of the speaker, and impeachment of the president. The author's expertise comes from twenty-eight years as a staff member in the House, culminating in service as chief of staff of the powerful House Rules Committee. He was a top parliamentary expert and a principal Republican procedural strategist. Sensitive to the power of process, Wolfensberger is an authoritative guide to reform efforts of earlier eras. And as a participant in reforms since the 1960s, he offers a unique perspective on forging the "1970s sunshine coalition," televising House proceedings, debating term limits, and coping with democracy in an electronic age.

Author : Joseph M. Bessette
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Deliberative democracy
ISBN : OCLC:1256526262

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The Mild Voice of Reason by Joseph M. Bessette Pdf

Author : Crittenden Jack Crittenden
Publisher : Black Rose Books Ltd.
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2019-10-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781551646732

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Direct Deliberative Democracy by Crittenden Jack Crittenden Pdf

As American politics becomes ever more dominated by powerful vested interests, positive change seems permanently stymied. Left out in the cold by the political process, citizens are frustrated and despairing. How can we take back our democracy from the grip of oligarchy and bring power to the people? In Direct Deliberative Democracy, Jack Crittenden and Debra Campbell offer up a better way for government to reflect citizens' interests. It begins with a startlingly basic question: "e;Why don't we the people govern?"e; In this provocative book, the authors mount a powerful case that the time has come for more direct democracy in the United States, showing that the circumstances that made the Constitutional framers' arguments so convincing more than two hundred years ago have changed dramatically-and that our democracy needs to change with them. With money, lobbyists, and corporations now dominating local, state, and national elections, the authors argue that now is the time for citizens to take control of their government by deliberating together to make public policies and laws directly. At the heart of their approach is a proposal for a new system of "e;legislative juries,"e; in which the jury system would be used as a model for selecting citizens to create ballot initiatives. This would enable citizens to level the playing field, bring little-heard voices into the political arena, and begin the process of transforming our democracy into one that works for, not against, its citizens.

Author : Baogang He,Michael Breen,James Fishkin
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2021-08-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000427301

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Deliberative Democracy in Asia by Baogang He,Michael Breen,James Fishkin Pdf

Featuring cases from India, China, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mongolia and Malaysia, the authors demonstrate and compare the differing uses of public deliberation in Asia. Many countries in Asia have long traditions of public deliberation, in both democratic and undemocratic settings, some of which continue today. Yet in the face of pressures from complex governance, popular protests and democratization, certain deliberative practices – notably deliberative polling – have been ‘parachuted’ into the region without regard to historical or traditional practices of deliberation. And, the motivations differ. Some states have made use of public deliberation in order to contain dissent, while others have more emancipatory goals in mind. The contributors to this book take a comparative perspective on the emergence and evolution of deliberative practices in Asia, and their relationships with democracy. They analyse the main motivations for introducing public deliberation in different political regimes and the effectiveness of public deliberation in Asian countries for solving problems and improving governance. In doing so they evaluate whether deliberative democratic tools, can apply to all societies regardless of their political and cultural differences. Essential reading for students and scholars of Asian Politics, this book will also be of great use to all political scientists with an interest in deliberative democracy.

Author : Stephen Elstub
Publisher : Edinburgh University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2014-01-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780748643509

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Deliberative Democracy by Stephen Elstub Pdf

Deliberative democracy is the darling of democratic theory and political theory more generally, and generates international interest. In this book, a number of leading democratic theorists address the key issues that surround the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. They outline the problems faced by deliberative democracy in the context of the available empirical evidence, survey potential solutions and put forward new and innovative ideas to resolve these issues.

Author : Michael Rabinder James
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Political Science
ISBN : UOM:39076002391527

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Deliberative Democracy and the Plural Polity by Michael Rabinder James Pdf

In this pathbreaking work, the author integrates questions of justice and stability through a model of deliberative democracy in the plural polity. "Deliberative Democracy and the Plural Polity" provides a realistic but critical reform agenda that can animate struggles for justice in an enormously diverse world.

Author : James S. Fishkin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780199604432

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When the People Speak by James S. Fishkin Pdf

This title describes a new method of consulting the public that has been tried successfully around the world. It combines the theory of democracy with actual practice.

Author : Shawn W. Rosenberg
Publisher : Springer
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2007-11-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780230591080

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Deliberation, Participation and Democracy by Shawn W. Rosenberg Pdf

Political participation is falling and citizen alienation and cynicism is increasing. This volume brings together the first work of this kind by leading scholars in the US and Europe to consider the issue. Four of the leading philosophers of deliberative democracy contribute their commentaries on the groundbreaking empirical research.

Author : Genevieve Fuji Johnson
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2015-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781442611245

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Democratic Illusion by Genevieve Fuji Johnson Pdf

The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citizens actively exchange ideas, engage in debate, and create laws that are responsive to their interests and aspirations. While deliberative processes are being adopted in an increasing number of cases, decision-making power remains mostly in the hands of traditional elites. In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy. Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.