John S. Dryzek
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250431
- eISBN:
- 9780191717253
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925043X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Deliberative Democracy and Beyond takes a critical tour through recent democratic theory, beginning with the deliberative turn that occurred around 1990. The essence of this turn is that ...
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Deliberative Democracy and Beyond takes a critical tour through recent democratic theory, beginning with the deliberative turn that occurred around 1990. The essence of this turn is that democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberation among those affected by a collective decision. While the deliberative turn was initially a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, it was soon assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalism 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 questioning established traditions, transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological, and dynamic in its openness to changing constraints upon, and opportunities for, democratization.Less
Deliberative Democracy and Beyond takes a critical tour through recent democratic theory, beginning with the deliberative turn that occurred around 1990. The essence of this turn is that democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberation among those affected by a collective decision. While the deliberative turn was initially a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, it was soon assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalism 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 questioning established traditions, transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological, and dynamic in its openness to changing constraints upon, and opportunities for, democratization.
John S. Dryzek
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250431
- eISBN:
- 9780191717253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925043X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer ...
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Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer association with the institutions of the liberal state. As an alternative, this chapter lays the foundations for an account of discursive democracy grounded in a critical theory of communicative action.Less
Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer association with the institutions of the liberal state. As an alternative, this chapter lays the foundations for an account of discursive democracy grounded in a critical theory of communicative action.
Maarten A. Hajer
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293330
- eISBN:
- 9780191599408
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829333X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Discusses ecological modernization in the 1990s. Also makes the case that discourse indeed matters in the analysis of politics and policy. Gives a detailed account of the various discursive ...
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Discusses ecological modernization in the 1990s. Also makes the case that discourse indeed matters in the analysis of politics and policy. Gives a detailed account of the various discursive mechanisms that were at work in the regulation of acid rain. Concludes with a search for a ‘reflexive’ form of ecological modernization in which the new discourse is combined with the introduction of a set of institutional practices that make it possible to combine it with a notion of discursive democracy.Less
Discusses ecological modernization in the 1990s. Also makes the case that discourse indeed matters in the analysis of politics and policy. Gives a detailed account of the various discursive mechanisms that were at work in the regulation of acid rain. Concludes with a search for a ‘reflexive’ form of ecological modernization in which the new discourse is combined with the introduction of a set of institutional practices that make it possible to combine it with a notion of discursive democracy.
Robert E. Goodin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199547944
- eISBN:
- 9780191720116
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547944.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
Insofar as the reason ‘why’ we want deliberative democracy is just to pool information, what justifies so much emphasis among deliberative democrats on talking face-to-face to the exclusion of other ...
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Insofar as the reason ‘why’ we want deliberative democracy is just to pool information, what justifies so much emphasis among deliberative democrats on talking face-to-face to the exclusion of other equally good ways of pooling information? This chapter develops a contrast between two ways of pooling information: mechanically (through vote counting) and discursively (through talking together). It goes on to canvass five ways in which pooling information discursively might capture information that would have been lost had the information-pooling been done by more purely mechanical means.Less
Insofar as the reason ‘why’ we want deliberative democracy is just to pool information, what justifies so much emphasis among deliberative democrats on talking face-to-face to the exclusion of other equally good ways of pooling information? This chapter develops a contrast between two ways of pooling information: mechanically (through vote counting) and discursively (through talking together). It goes on to canvass five ways in which pooling information discursively might capture information that would have been lost had the information-pooling been done by more purely mechanical means.
Steven Vogel
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029100
- eISBN:
- 9780262326988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029100.003.0007
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The collective action problem Hardin named the tragedy of the commons is another version of the phenomenon that Marx called alienation. The aggregated effect of the individual actions of myriad ...
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The collective action problem Hardin named the tragedy of the commons is another version of the phenomenon that Marx called alienation. The aggregated effect of the individual actions of myriad private individuals engaging in private transactions produces consequences harmful to all that none of them intend. This is the standard form of environmental problems. The “tragedy” does not arise from the selfishness or greed or stupidity of the individuals involved, but rather from their inability to find a way to decide together as a community what to do. This inability is characteristic of a social order based on market relations. The problem can only be solved by moving from the level of the market to the level of politics, in which decisions are made by a community as a whole, acting self-consciously as a community through discursive democratic processes.Less
The collective action problem Hardin named the tragedy of the commons is another version of the phenomenon that Marx called alienation. The aggregated effect of the individual actions of myriad private individuals engaging in private transactions produces consequences harmful to all that none of them intend. This is the standard form of environmental problems. The “tragedy” does not arise from the selfishness or greed or stupidity of the individuals involved, but rather from their inability to find a way to decide together as a community what to do. This inability is characteristic of a social order based on market relations. The problem can only be solved by moving from the level of the market to the level of politics, in which decisions are made by a community as a whole, acting self-consciously as a community through discursive democratic processes.
André Bächtiger and John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199672196
- eISBN:
- 9780191872624
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199672196.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter picks up where chapter four left off, fleshing out three major accounts of deliberative systems: discursive, spatial, and sequential, each of which has useful foci and important blind ...
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This chapter picks up where chapter four left off, fleshing out three major accounts of deliberative systems: discursive, spatial, and sequential, each of which has useful foci and important blind spots in both descriptive and normative terms. Along the way it raises a number of challenges for each of the models, including questions about how each treats democratic norms of inclusion and legitimate decision-making, as well as specifying a ‘memetic’ account of democratic communication rather than a preference-based one. The chapter then focuses on four key steps in an ideal sequence: listening to the narratives and claims of the informal public sphere; structuring those claims and connecting them with reasons; making collective decisions; and doing so in a context of representation as relationship building.Less
This chapter picks up where chapter four left off, fleshing out three major accounts of deliberative systems: discursive, spatial, and sequential, each of which has useful foci and important blind spots in both descriptive and normative terms. Along the way it raises a number of challenges for each of the models, including questions about how each treats democratic norms of inclusion and legitimate decision-making, as well as specifying a ‘memetic’ account of democratic communication rather than a preference-based one. The chapter then focuses on four key steps in an ideal sequence: listening to the narratives and claims of the informal public sphere; structuring those claims and connecting them with reasons; making collective decisions; and doing so in a context of representation as relationship building.
Steven Vogel
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029100
- eISBN:
- 9780262326988
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029100.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Environmental theory would be better off if it eschewed the concept of “nature” entirely. The concept is too ambiguous and potentially politically dangerous, while as McKibben and others have argued, ...
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Environmental theory would be better off if it eschewed the concept of “nature” entirely. The concept is too ambiguous and potentially politically dangerous, while as McKibben and others have argued, if “nature” means a world independent of human action it may no longer exist – and even if it did that’s not where environmental problems arise. The world that actually “environs” us is always a built one, and is “socially constructed” in the sense that humans literally construct it in their practices. We are not alienated from nature but rather from that (built) environment, in that we do not recognize, or take responsibility for, its builtness. “Thinking like a mall” means recognizing that the distinction between the “natural” and the “artificial” is untenable: artifacts are as material, and so as independent of humans, as anything else. Environmental questions are political questions, about what sort of environment we want to build: “nature” can’t answer them, only those beings capable of engaging in democratic political discourse can. But under capitalism such discourse is virtually impossible, and instead individuals can only engage in private market transactions with each other that when aggregated produce harmful “externalities” that no one intends. This is the source of environmental problems. Only by choosing our practices not as individuals but as democratically a community could such problems be overcome.Less
Environmental theory would be better off if it eschewed the concept of “nature” entirely. The concept is too ambiguous and potentially politically dangerous, while as McKibben and others have argued, if “nature” means a world independent of human action it may no longer exist – and even if it did that’s not where environmental problems arise. The world that actually “environs” us is always a built one, and is “socially constructed” in the sense that humans literally construct it in their practices. We are not alienated from nature but rather from that (built) environment, in that we do not recognize, or take responsibility for, its builtness. “Thinking like a mall” means recognizing that the distinction between the “natural” and the “artificial” is untenable: artifacts are as material, and so as independent of humans, as anything else. Environmental questions are political questions, about what sort of environment we want to build: “nature” can’t answer them, only those beings capable of engaging in democratic political discourse can. But under capitalism such discourse is virtually impossible, and instead individuals can only engage in private market transactions with each other that when aggregated produce harmful “externalities” that no one intends. This is the source of environmental problems. Only by choosing our practices not as individuals but as democratically a community could such problems be overcome.
Jarrett Blaustein
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198723295
- eISBN:
- 9780191789809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198723295.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology, Public International Law
This chapter concludes by summarizing the main arguments from the text, reiterating the findings of the book in response to the questions posed in the introduction. It then proceeds to outline a ...
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This chapter concludes by summarizing the main arguments from the text, reiterating the findings of the book in response to the questions posed in the introduction. It then proceeds to outline a future research agenda for achieving ethical and impactful criminological engagement with transnational policy communities. The rationale for ‘speaking truths to power’ is linked with the author’s belief that Northern criminologists conducting research ‘abroad’ have an obligation to ensure that their work fosters a better global politics of crime and security governance, especially in weak and structurally dependent societies, by developing innovative research methods that combine the aim of understanding with that of empowerment.Less
This chapter concludes by summarizing the main arguments from the text, reiterating the findings of the book in response to the questions posed in the introduction. It then proceeds to outline a future research agenda for achieving ethical and impactful criminological engagement with transnational policy communities. The rationale for ‘speaking truths to power’ is linked with the author’s belief that Northern criminologists conducting research ‘abroad’ have an obligation to ensure that their work fosters a better global politics of crime and security governance, especially in weak and structurally dependent societies, by developing innovative research methods that combine the aim of understanding with that of empowerment.
