The Foundations of Deliberative Democracy
Empirical Research and Normative Implications

Examines the interplay between the normative and empirical aspects of the deliberative model of democracy.

Jürg Steiner (Author)

9781107625013, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 June 2012

288 pages, 2 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.46 kg

'This is an interesting and valuable project that extends the work of Steiner et al., Deliberative Politics in Action. That marked an important evolution in the study of deliberative democracy by developing and applying a Discourse Quality Index to parliamentary debates in four countries. This book is even more ambitious; it uses deliberative democratic theory to identify about a dozen distinct theoretical issues, and then assembles the available empirical evidence to throw light on these issues.' Mark E. Warren, University of British Columbia

Deliberative democracy is now an influential approach to the study of democracy and political behaviour. Its key proposition is that, in politics, it is not only power that counts, but good discussions and arguments too. This book examines the interplay between the normative and empirical aspects of the deliberative model of democracy. Jürg Steiner presents the main normative controversies in the literature on deliberation, including self-interest, civility and truthfulness. He then summarizes the empirical literature on deliberation and proposes methods by which the level of deliberation can be measured rather than just assumed. Steiner's empirical research is based in the work of various research groups, including experiments with ordinary citizens in the deeply divided societies of Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium, as well as Finland and the European Union. Steiner draws normative implications from a combination of both normative controversies and empirical findings.

Introduction
1. Citizen participation in deliberation
2. Rationality and stories in deliberative justification
3. Common good and self-interest in deliberative justification
4. Respect in deliberation
5. Public openness of deliberation
6. Force of better argument in deliberation
7. Truthfulness in deliberation
8. Deliberation in the media and the Internet
9. Favorable conditions for deliberation
10. Favorable consequences of deliberation
11. The praxis of deliberation
Appendix: newest version of Discourse Quality Index (DQI).

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Political science & theory [JPA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]