Deliberative Politics in Action
Analyzing Parliamentary Discourse

The first empirical study of the role of conversation and arguments in politics, based on analysis of parliamentary debates.

Jürg Steiner (Author), André Bächtiger (Author), Markus Spörndli (Author), Marco R. Steenbergen (Author)

9780521535649, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 January 2005

206 pages, 1 b/w illus. 15 tables
22.8 x 15.4 x 1.4 cm, 0.338 kg

'The most systematic attempt to operationalize principles for identifying and evaluating deliberation is at the center of the study of parliamentary discourse by Steiner and his associates.' Dennis F. Thompson, Department of Government, Harvard University

'Deliberative politics' refers to the role of conversation and arguments in politics. Until recently discussion of deliberative politics took place almost exclusively among political philosophers, but many questions raised in this philosophical discussion cry out for empirical investigation. This book provides the first extended empirical study of deliberative politics, addressing, in particular, questions of the preconditions and consequences of high level deliberation. Using parliamentary debates in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States as an empirical base, the authors measure the level of deliberation by constructing a 'Discourse Quality Index'. As deliberative politics moves to the forefront of political theory, this book makes an important contribution to deliberative democracy.

Introduction: the research questions
1. Institutions and behaviour: the example of consociational theory
2. The philosophical literature on deliberative politics
3. Measuring deliberation: a Discourse Quality Index
4. Understanding the real world of deliberation: hypotheses about antecedents and consequences
5. The institutional antecedents of discourse
6. Discourse and its consequences
Conclusion and research outlook
Appendix: Discourse Quality Index (DQI).

Subject Areas: Political structure & processes [JPH], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Social & political philosophy [HPS]