Legislative Deliberative Democracy

Author : John Gastil,Erik Olin Wright
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781788736114

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Legislature by Lot by John Gastil,Erik Olin Wright Pdf

Democracy means rule by the people, but in practice even the most robust democracies delegate most rule making to a political class The gap between the public and its representatives might seem unbridgeable in the modern world, but Legislature by Lot examines an inspiring solution: a legislature chosen through “sortition”—the random selection of lay citizens. It’s a concept that has come to the attention of democratic reformers across the globe. Proposals for such bodies are being debated in Australia, Belgium, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Sortition promises to reduce corruption and create a truly representative legislature in one fell swoop. In Legislature by Lot, John Gastil and Erik Olin Wright make the case for pairing a sortition body with an elected chamber within a bicameral legislature. Gastil is a leading deliberative democracy scholar, and Wright a distinguished sociologist and editor of the Real Utopias series, of which this is a part. In this volume, they bring together critics and advocates of sortition who have studied ancient Athens, deliberative polling, political theory, social movements, and civic innovation. Without obscuring its limitations, the contributors offer a wide variety of ideas for how to implement sortition and examine its potential for reshaping modern politics. Legislature by Lot includes sixteen essays that respond to Gastil and Wright’s detailed proposal. Essays comparing sortition to contemporary reforms see it as a dramatic extension of deliberative “minipublics,” which gather random samples of citizens to weigh public policy dilemmas without being empowered to enact legislation. Another set of essays explores the democratic principles underlying sortition and elections and considers, for example, how a sortition body holds itself accountable to a public that did not elect it. The third set of essays considers alternative paths to democratic reform, which limit the powers of a sortition chamber or more quickly establish a pure sortition body. With contributions by Arash Abizadeh, Tom Arnold, Terrill Bouricius, Deven Burks, Lyn Carson, Dimitri Courant, Donatella della Porta, David M. Farrell, Andrea Felicetti, James S. Fishkin, Brett Hennig, Vincent Jacquet, Raphaël Kies, Tom Malleson, Jane Mansbridge, Christoph Niessen, David Owen, John Pitseys, Min Reuchamps, Yves Sintomer, Graham Smith, Jane Suiter, and Pierre-Étienne Vandamme.

Author : Ron Levy,Graeme Orr
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2016-11-03
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781134502066

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The Law of Deliberative Democracy by Ron Levy,Graeme Orr Pdf

Laws have colonised most of the corners of political practice, and now substantially determine the process and even the product of democracy. Yet analysis of these laws of politics has been hobbled by a limited set of theories about politics. Largely absent is the perspective of deliberative democracy – a rising theme in political studies that seeks a more rational, cooperative, informed, and truly democratic politics. Legal and political scholarship often view each other in reductive terms. This book breaks through such caricatures to provide the first full-length examination of whether and how the law of politics can match deliberative democratic ideals. Essential reading for those interested in either law or politics, the book presents a challenging critique of laws governing electoral politics in the English-speaking world. Judges often act as spoilers, vetoing or naively reshaping schemes meant to enhance deliberation. This pattern testifies to deliberation’s weak penetration into legal consciousness. It is also a fault of deliberative democracy scholarship itself, which says little about how deliberation connects with the actual practice of law. Superficially, the law of politics and deliberative democracy appear starkly incompatible. Yet, after laying out this critique, The Law of Deliberative Democracy considers prospects for reform. The book contends that the conflict between law and public deliberation is not inevitable: it results from judicial and legislative choices. An extended, original analysis demonstrates how lawyers and deliberativists can engage with each other to bridge their two solitudes.

Author : Ethan J. Leib
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 55,6 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 : Crittenden Jack Crittenden
Publisher : Black Rose Books Ltd.
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 54,8 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 : Avichai Levit
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2022-05
Category : Deliberative democracy
ISBN : 0367607980

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Legislative Deliberative Democracy by Avichai Levit Pdf

In this book Avichai Levit uses the United States as a case study to argue that the degree of democratic legitimacy of laws that restrict freedom of speech during war, depends on the extent of legislature deliberation on such laws.

Author : Christopher F. Zurn
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 14 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2007-03-26
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781139464383

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Deliberative Democracy and the Institutions of Judicial Review by Christopher F. Zurn Pdf

In this book, Christopher F. Zurn shows why a normative theory of deliberative democratic constitutionalism yields the best understanding of the legitimacy of constitutional review. He further argues that this function should be institutionalized in a complex, multi-location structure including not only independent constitutional courts but also legislative and executive self-review that would enable interbranch constitutional dialogue and constitutional amendment through deliberative civic constitutional forums. Drawing on sustained critical analyses of diverse pluralist and deliberative democratic arguments concerning the legitimacy of judicial review, Zurn concludes that constitutional review is necessary to ensure the procedural requirements for legitimate democratic self-rule through deliberative cooperation. Claiming that pure normative theory is not sufficient to settle issues of institutional design, Zurn draws on empirical and comparative research to propose reformed institutions of constitutional review that encourage the development of fundamental law as an ongoing project of democratic deliberation and decision.

Author : Avichai Levit
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2020-11-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000220988

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Legislative Deliberative Democracy by Avichai Levit Pdf

Freedom of speech is a basic right in a democracy. During war, however, national legislatures tend to enact laws that restrict this basic right. Under what circumstances can such laws be democratically legitimate? Avichai Levit argues that the degree of democratic legitimacy of laws that restrict freedom of speech during war depends on the extent of legislature deliberation on such laws. The more law makers in both chambers of the legislature seriously consider information and arguments, reason on the common good and seek to persuade and decide the best legislative outcome, in committees and on the floor, the more democratic legitimacy can be associated with such laws. This book fills a gap in the scholarly literature regarding the evaluation of the democratic legitimacy of laws that restrict freedom of speech during war, by bridging different theoretical perceptions and presenting an alternative normative account of deliberative democracy which focuses on the deliberations of a national legislature. Using the United States as a case study, Levit delves into the details of Congressional deliberation during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, as well as the political histories that brought about such laws. Legislative Deliberative Democracy will be of interest to academics and students alike in the fields of political theory, American politics and political history.

Author : Genevieve Fuji Johnson
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 49,5 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.

Author : Jose Luis Marti,Samantha Besson
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 52,7 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 : Joseph M. Bessette
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Deliberative democracy
ISBN : OCLC:1256526262

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The Mild Voice of Reason by Joseph M. Bessette Pdf

Author : Donald R. Wolfensberger
Publisher : Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 47,8 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 : Cristina Lafont
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2020-01-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780198848189

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Democracy Without Shortcuts by Cristina Lafont Pdf

This book articulates a participatory conception of deliberative democracy that takes the democratic ideal of self-government seriously. It aims to improve citizens' democratic control and vindicate the value of citizens' participation against conceptions that threaten to undermine it. The book critically analyzes deep pluralist, epistocratic, and lottocratic conceptions of democracy. Their defenders propose various institutional ''shortcuts'' to help solve problems of democratic governance such as overcoming disagreements, citizens' political ignorance, or poor-quality deliberation. However, all these shortcut proposals require citizens to blindly defer to actors over whose decisions they cannot exercise control. Implementing such proposals would therefore undermine democracy. Moreover, it seems naive to assume that a community can reach better outcomes 'faster' if it bypasses the beliefs and attitudes of its citizens. Unfortunately, there are no 'shortcuts' to make a community better than its members. The only road to better outcomes is the long, participatory road that is taken when citizens forge a collective will by changing one another's hearts and minds. However difficult the process of justifying political decisions to one another may be, skipping it cannot get us any closer to the democratic ideal. Starting from this conviction, the book defends a conception of democracy ''without shortcuts''. This conception sheds new light on long-standing debates about the proper scope of public reason, the role of religion in politics, and the democratic legitimacy of judicial review. It also proposes new ways to unleash the democratic potential of institutional innovations such as deliberative minipublics.

Author : John Uhr
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 1998-04-13
Category : History
ISBN : 0521624657

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Deliberative Democracy in Australia by John Uhr Pdf

Parliament is central to the democratic claims of our system of governance. This book evaluates the role and performance of this centrepiece of Australian government. It explores the institutional design of the parliament, and its principles and practices, presenting a compelling case for reform. Uhr discusses parliament's representative and legislative roles, and the issue of accountability. He looks at the place of representative assemblies in liberal political theory and assesses current institutional performance. He argues that republicanism can be seen as a form of deliberative democracy, examining ways in which such democracy might be made more effective and meaningful in Australia. Combining an authoritative knowledge of political theory with a familiarity with the inner-workings of the Australian parliament, the author makes an important contribution to debates in Australia and internationally.

Author : Conrado Hübner Mendes
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2013-12-19
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780191650178

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Constitutional Courts and Deliberative Democracy by Conrado Hübner Mendes Pdf

Contemporary democracies have granted an expansive amount of power to unelected judges that sit in constitutional or supreme courts. This power shift has never been easily squared with the institutional backbones through which democracy is popularly supposed to be structured. The best institutional translation of a 'government of the people, by the people and for the people' is usually expressed through elections and electoral representation in parliaments. Judicial review of legislation has been challenged as bypassing that common sense conception of democratic rule. The alleged 'democratic deficit' behind what courts are legally empowered to do has been met with a variety of justifications in favour of judicial review. One common justification claims that constitutional courts are, in comparison to elected parliaments, much better suited for impartial deliberation and public reason-giving. Fundamental rights would thus be better protected by that insulated mode of decision-making. This justification has remained largely superficial and, sometimes, too easily embraced. This book analyses the argument that the legitimacy of courts arises from their deliberative capacity. It examines the theory of political deliberation and its implications for institutional design. Against this background, it turns to constitutional review and asks whether an argument can be made in support of judicial power on the basis of deliberative theory.

Author : Carlos Santiago Nino
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1996-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0300077270

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The Constitution of Deliberative Democracy by Carlos Santiago Nino Pdf

In this important and wide-ranging book, a leading political theorist and activist considers the question: What justifies democracy? Carlos Santiago Nino critically examines answers others have given and then develops his own distinctive theory of democracy, emphasizing its deliberative character. In Nino's view, democracy resembles a moral conversation and is valued because of its capacity to generate an impartial perspective, one that takes into account the interests of all citizens. Nino's conception of deliberative democracy bears on the way power is organized under a constitution. Drawing on a variety of constitutional traditions, he criticizes the presidential system and calls for citizens to participate more directly in the political life of their country. He also envisions a revitalized role for political parties. Nino shows how deliberative democracy can be combined with, and supported by, other constitutional practices, such as the specific wording of the text and the protection of individual rights. The complex constitution that emerges from his analysis consists of a historical constitution, an ideal constitution of rights, and an ideal constitution of power. Nino's goal is to explain how these three dimensions of constitutionalism can reinforce rather than conflict with each other. In a final chapter, he argues that the deliberative conception of democracy requires a more limited role for judicial review than is usually contemplated.