Deliberative democracy: answering the practical challenges

Abstract

Sceptics about deliberative democracy point out that some issues involve material that is inaccessible to the untrained public, while other issues highlight fundamental value differences that cannot be resolved by public discussion. Value pluralism and public incompetence present serious challenges that threaten to limit the practical scope of deliberative democracy. This project aims to meet these challenges by considering cases that illustrate the successes and failures of public interaction. I draw upon the Oregon experiment, the BC Citizens’ Assembly, the Quebec kirpan controversy, and Turkey’s ongoing headscarf debate to outline useful procedures and institutional elements for a more robust deliberative theory. Provided these procedural suggestions, I argue that deliberative democracy can be a functional theory under non-ideal social conditions.