Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations (Oxford Political Theory) - Hardcover

Dryzek, John

3.8

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9780198295075: Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations (Oxford Political Theory)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198295073 ISBN 13: 9780198295075

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

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The past few years have seen a remarkable ferment in the theory of democracy. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond builds on a critical tour through recent democratic theory by one of the leading political theorists in the field. It examines the deliberative turn in democratic theory, which argues that the essence of democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberations on the part of those affected by a collective decision. The deliberative turn began as a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, but it has now been largely assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalist deliberative democracy and discursive democracy, the author criticizes the former and advocates the latter. He argues that a defensible theory of democracy should be critical of established power, pluralistic, reflexive in its questioning orientation to established traditions, transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological, and dynamic in its openness to ever-changing constraints upon and opportunities for democratization. Dryzek's reinvigorated approach enables deliberative democracy to respond more effectively to the criticisms that have been leveled against it.

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Review:

Remarkable book ... Dryzek's discussions are unfailingly lucid, and his critical assessments of the literature remain comprehensive and illuminating ... Readers will find much to ponder in what he has to say. Ethics The most remarkable and subtle part of Dryzek's argument is his attempt to construct green theory of democratic communication, which takes account of agency and communication in the non-human natural world ... The argument is a bit like crossing a ravine on a bridge of eggshells, and is conducted with considerable intellectual excitement ... Dryzek's discussion is throughout careful, rigorous, detailed, and in dealing with views from which he distinguishes his own position, scrupulously sympathetic. Democratizaton This clear and imaginative presentation of recent attempts to make democracy more inclusive than traditional liberal models bounded by the institutions of the state is highly recommended for collections serving upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers. Choice Dryzek is a sharp and authoritative critic, and this will be an influential work ... even the sceptical will do well to engage closely with Dryzek's provocative vision. Political Studies

About the Author:

John S. Dryzek is Professor of Political Science, University of Melbourne

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