New Book on Deliberative Systems

Deliberative Systems
Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale

Ed. by John Parkinson & Jane Mansbridge

(Cambridge University Press, July 2012)

204 pages

Description

'Deliberative democracy' is often dismissed as a set of small-scale, academic experiments. This volume seeks to demonstrate how the deliberative ideal can work as a theory of democracy on a larger scale. It provides a new way of thinking about democratic engagement across the spectrum of political action, from towns and villages to nation states, and from local networks to transnational, even global systems. Written by a team of the world's leading deliberative theorists, Deliberative Systems explains the principles of this new approach, which seeks ways of ensuring that a division of deliberative labour in a system nonetheless meets both deliberative and democratic norms. Rather than simply elaborating the theory, the contributors examine the problems of implementation in a real world of competing norms, competing institutions and competing powerful interests. This pioneering book will inspire an exciting new phase of deliberative research, both theoretical and empirical.

Contents [preview]

1. A Systemic Approach to Deliberative Democracy - Jane Mansbridge, James Bohman, Simone Chambers, Thomas Christiano, Archon Fung, John Parkinson, Dennis F. Thompson and Mark E. Warren
2. Rational Deliberation Among Experts and Citizens - Thomas Christiano
3. Deliberation and Mass Democracy - Simone Chambers4. Representation in the Deliberative System - James Bohman
5. Two Trust-based Uses of Minipublics in Democratic Systems - Michael K. MacKenzie and Mark E. Warren [Draft]
6. On the Embeddedness of Deliberative Systems - Yannis Papadopoulos7. Democratizing Deliberative Systems - John Parkinson

John Parkinson is Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Warwick. He is the author of "Deliberating in the Real World" (Oxford University Press, 2006) and "Democracy & Public Space" (Oxford University Press, 2012). He is running a blog.

Jane Mansbridge is Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values at Harvard University. She is the author of "Beyond Adversary Democracy" (Basic Books, 1980) and editor of "Beyond Self-Interest" (University of Chicago Press, 1990).

See a lecture by Jane Mansbridge on "The Deliberative System" (Paris, June 2011).