Democracy When the People Are Thinking - Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation

Democracy requires a connection to the 'will of the people'. What does that mean in a world of 'fake news', relentless advocacy, dialogue mostly among the like-minded, and massive spending to manipulate public opinion? What kind of opinion can the public have under such conditions? What would democracy be like if the people were really thinking in depth about the policies they must live with? If they really 'deliberated' with good information about their political choices?

This book argues that 'deliberative democracy' is not utopian. It is a practical solution to many of democracy's ills. It can supplement existing institutions with practical reforms. It can apply at all levels of government and for many different kinds of policy choices. This volume speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public's concerns. Instead, there are methods for getting a representative and thoughtful public voice that is really worth listening to. Democracy is under siege in most countries, where democratic institutions have low approval and face a resurgent threat from authoritarian regimes. Deliberative democracy can provide an antidote and can reinvigorate our democratic politics.

This book draws on the author's research with many collaborators on 'Deliberative Polling'-a process conducted in 27 countries on six continents. It contributes both to political theory and to the empirical study of public opinion and participation. It should interest anyone concerned about the future of democracy and how it can be revitalized.

List of contents

• Part I: Introduction


• 1. Party Competition and Its Limits


• 2. Deliberation and Reform


• Part II: Can the People Rule?


• 1. Four Criteria for Popular Control


• 2. Four Forms of Democracy


• 3. Popular Control in Competitive Democracies


• 4.Is There Democracy for 'Realists'?


• 5. Manipulation


• 6. Elite Deliberation and Popular Control: Madison's Filter


• 7. Participatory Democracy and Democratic Control: From Town Meetings to Referenda


• 8. Reflections on the Athenian Case


• Part III: Making Deliberation Practical


• 1. Designing Deliberative Democracy


• 2. Deliberative Agenda Setting: California In One Room


• 3. Mongolia: Deliberative Participatory Budgeting


• 4. Applying Deliberative Democracy in Africa: Uganda's First Deliberative Polls


• 5. Deliberating European Wide


• Part IV: Re-imagining Democratic Possibilities


• 1. Designs for Deliberation: Where and How?


• 2. It Works in Practice, But Does It Work in Theory?


• 3. From Thought Experiments to Real Experiments: Reflections on Rawls and Habermas


• 4. Deliberative Democracy and Candidate Selection


• 5. Texas: Connecting Public Deliberation to Policy Elites


• 6. Connecting Deliberative Designs to Participatory Democracy


• 7. Deliberating Before Ballot Propositions: Reflecting on the 'Australian Republic'


• 8. Japan: Deliberation for Hard Choices


• 9. Deliberation Day


• 10. Connecting Deliberative Democracy to Constitutional Change


• 11. Speculating on New Institutions


• 12. Mongolia Deliberates for Constitutional Change


• 13. 'Deliberative Authoritarianism'?


• 14. 'Deliberative Systems' and Popular Control


• 15. Toward Collective Self-Rule


• Appendix

About the author

James S. Fishkin holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University, where he is Professor of Communication and (by courtesy) Professor of Political Science. He is also Director of Stanford's Center for Deliberative Democracy. He is the author of Democracy and Deliberation (Yale, 1991), When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation (OUP, 2009) and other books. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California.

Summary

Democracy requires a connection to the 'will of the people'. What does that mean in a world of 'fake news', relentless advocacy, dialogue mostly among the like-minded, and massive spending to manipulate public opinion? What kind of opinion can the public have under such conditions? What would democracy be like if the people were really thinking in depth about the policies they must live with? If they really 'deliberated' with good information about their political choices?

This book argues that 'deliberative democracy' is not utopian. It is a practical solution to many of democracy's ills. It can supplement existing institutions with practical reforms. It can apply at all levels of government and for many different kinds of policy choices. This volume speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public's concerns. Instead, there are methods for getting a representative and thoughtful public voice that is really worth listening to. Democracy is under siege in most countries, where democratic institutions have low approval and face a resurgent threat from authoritarian regimes. Deliberative democracy can provide an antidote and can reinvigorate our democratic politics.

This book draws on the author's research with many collaborators on 'Deliberative Polling'-a process conducted in 27 countries on six continents. It contributes both to political theory and to the empirical study of public opinion and participation. It should interest anyone concerned about the future of democracy and how it can be revitalized.

Additional text

This book may - and I hope will - change the face of democracy. With examples from California, Texas, Mongolia, Uganda, China, Japan, Macau, Australia, the UK, and Europe, Fishkin shows how a representative body of citizens, chosen by lot and stratified to include all relevant sections of the community, can, after deliberating, come to informed conclusions that have a major impact on key public decisions. Case upon case breaks new ground in the growing global movement to harness the intelligence and legitimacy of citizens drawn by lot.

Report

Fishkin's book is worthwhile...important work. Margaret Petrie, University of Edinburgh, Concept

Product details

• Authors: James S. Fishkin, James S. (Professor of Communication Fishkin, Fishkin James S.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2018
• EAN: 9780198820291
• ISBN: 978-0-19-882029-1
• No. of pages: 272
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 240 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, Political science & theory, Political structures: democracy, Public Administration, Political science and theory, Political structures / systems: democracy, Public administration / Public policy