Deliberation, Participation and Democracy: Can the People Govern?

Political participation is falling and citizen distrust in politicians and political institutions is increasing. A growing number of philosophers and political practitioners have advocated for a more deliberative form of democracy in response to this apparent decline in Western democracies.

This volume brings together for the first time the leading scholars in the US and Europe doing empirical research on deliberative democracy. The topics they investigate include general political talk, dialogue groups, jury deliberations, citizen deliberation, parliamentary debates and the impact of deliberation on public policy. Four of the leading philosophers advocates of deliberative democracy then comment on this groundbreaking research and the questions it raises for the conception and practice of deliberative democracy. The result is an extraordinary contribution to current debates regarding the limits and potential of citizen participation in political life.