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Journal Article

Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

01 Feb 1997-Review of Metaphysics-Vol. 51, Iss: 1, pp 153-155
About: This article is published in Review of Metaphysics.The article was published on 1997-02-01 and is currently open access. It has received 2568 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Democracy.
Citations
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Book Chapter
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: Muddiman et al. as mentioned in this paper analyzed uncivil discourse in Brazil, the fifth largest population in the world, by looking at a developing country with a high rate of internet use.
Abstract: Uncivil discourse has been a topic of scholarly concern in the past decades due to the perceived rise of political polarization and partisan media (Herbst, 2010; Mutz, 2016), and the pervasiveness of incivility in computer-mediated communication (Anderson, Brossard, Scheufele, Xenos, & Ladwig, 2014; Coe, Kenski, & Rains, 2014; Papacharissi, 2004). The potential benefits of online political discussion are often questioned, or dismissed, due to the elevated presence of uncivil discourse (Rowe, 2015; Santana, 2014). However, as discussed in other chapters in this book (see Muddiman; Sydnor), incivility is a challenging concept to define. As a result, what scholars consider to be uncivil varies in definition and operationalization (Jamieson et al., 2015; Muddiman, 2017). Most of these studies, however, have focused in the U.S. context or the U.K., and little is known about how uncivil are online discussions in non-English speaking democracies. This chapter contributes to fill that gap by analyzing uncivil discourse in Brazil, the fifth largest population in the world (Un.org, 2017). By looking at a developing country with a high rate of internet use1, this chapter contributes to a broader understanding

27 citations


Cites background from "Between Facts and Norms: Contributi..."

  • ...Political intolerance signals a lack of moral respect – a basic condition for individuals to be recognized as free and equal in a plural democracy (Habermas, 1998; Honneth, 1996)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the sport policy process in realizing an athlete-centred sport system through the lens of deliberative democracy and discuss the implications for the potential for a deliberative democratic approach in realizing a sport system.
Abstract: This article examines the sport policy process in realizing an athlete-centred sport system through the lens of deliberative democracy. We examine the development of an athlete-centred system largely in the context of Canadian high performance sport; however global aspects of this trend are recognized. Athlete-centred initiatives in light of Habermas's (1996) deliberative democracy theory's core concepts of administratively employed power and communicatively generated power are discussed. In particular, we demonstrate instances of communicative power's counter-steering capabilities of the state's use of administrative power. The tensions between administrative and communicative power illustrated through efforts towards establishing an athlete-centred system are also presented. We conclude by discussing the implications for the potential for a deliberative democratic approach in realizing an athlete-centred sport system and raise important issues about its development.

27 citations

01 Jan 2012

27 citations


Cites background from "Between Facts and Norms: Contributi..."

  • ...…years, deliberative democracy theorists have also emphasized rational discussion and debate—in their term, deliberation—as the source of the legitimacy of political decisions (Benhabib, 1996; Bohman, 1996; Cohen, 1997; Fishkin, 1991; Gutmann & Thompson, 1996, 2004; Habermas, 1996/1992, 1998/1996)....

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  • ...54 In response to Bernstein‘s critique, Habermas (1996) has emphasized that he has never denied the importance of democratic ethos: ―a liberal political culture‖ in his terms....

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  • ...…have believed that democracy requires particular types of political talk, which are called ―public use of reason‖ (Kant, 1991/1784), ―deliberation‖ (Bohman, 1996; Fishkin, 1991; Gutmann & Dennis, 1996, 2004; Habermas, 1996/1992, 2006), or a ―problem-solving model of conversation‖ (Schudson, 1997)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual map that allows tracing emerging and proposed forms of citizenship within and beyond the nation state in a comprehensive and differentiated way is presented, which disentangles membership in a political community as the fundament of citizenship and the arena of political decision-making as the focal point of citizenship rights, identities and practices.
Abstract: In an age of transnational flows and interdependencies, democratic citizenship can no longer be conceptualized exclusively within national boundaries. This paper presents a conceptual map that allows tracing emerging and proposed forms of citizenship within and beyond the nation state in a comprehensive and differentiated way. We disentangle two anchor points: membership in a political community as the fundament of citizenship and the arena of political decision-making as the focal point of citizenship rights, identities and practices. For the former we differentiate between a single national community, the universal community of humankind and multiple (national) communities. For the latter we distinguish the national, supra-national and transnational arena. Our typology thus consists of nine different forms of democratic citizenship. It is used to provide a brief overview over normative proposals and empirical findings leading to the following insights: while membership in a particular national community...

27 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply a praxeological approach to study contemporary constitutionalism, arguing that the concept of memory offers an important view on the language-based concept of experience which extends beyond the confines of behavioural approaches that study habitual change with regard to norms.
Abstract: This article proposes to apply a praxeological approach to study contemporary constitutionalism. The approach is conceptualized following critical constructivist research on constitutionalism that focuses on experience and expectation when studying the contested meaning of norms in international relations. It argues that the concept of memory offers an important view on the language-based concept of experience which extends beyond the confines of behavioural approaches that study habitual change with regard to norms. The article offers a conceptual discussion of approaches to constitutionalism, emphasizing the distinction between modern and contemporary constitutionalism and their respective foci on regulatory versus cultural practices, introduces a praxeological dimension of horizons and elaborates on political memory and myth as concepts of functional memory.

27 citations


Cites background from "Between Facts and Norms: Contributi..."

  • ...Similarly, other approaches revert to identitarian essentialism – a version of the dictum ‘government by the people’ – that reifies the aforementioned identitarian features of citizenship of Westphalian nation-states or its alleged structural preconditions, such as a thin cosmopolitanism enabled by the existence of a public sphere (Schlesinger, 1991; Grimm, 1995; Habermas, 1996; Greven, 2000; Kielmannsegg, 2003; Schlesinger, 2007; for a critique see Van de Steeg, 2006)....

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  • ...…citizenship of Westphalian nation-states or its alleged structural preconditions, such as a thin cosmopolitanism enabled by the existence of a public sphere (Schlesinger, 1991; Grimm, 1995; Habermas, 1996; Greven, 2000; Kielmannsegg, 2003; Schlesinger, 2007; for a critique see Van de Steeg, 2006)....

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  • ...Likewise, notions that foresee a sphere of uninterrupted communication as the precondition for a community (Habermas, 1996; Schlesinger, 2007; Kielmannsegg, 2003) do not problematize the formation of a given political community, omitting processes of force that might have contributed to their…...

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  • ...Yet, it plays a crucial role in the inherent tension between legal validity of agreements and their social facticity (Habermas, 1996)....

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  • ...Likewise, notions that foresee a sphere of uninterrupted communication as the precondition for a community (Habermas, 1996; Schlesinger, 2007; Kielmannsegg, 2003) do not problematize the formation of a given political community, omitting processes of force that might have contributed to their formation and the existence of horizons from which contemporary European constitutionalism is forming....

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References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this comprehensive social theory of the Internet and the networked information economy, Benkler describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changing--and shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves.
Abstract: With the radical changes in information production that the Internet has introduced, we stand at an important moment of transition, says Yochai Benkler in this thought-provoking book. The phenomenon he describes as social production is reshaping markets, while at the same time offering new opportunities to enhance individual freedom, cultural diversity, political discourse, and justice. But these results are by no means inevitable: a systematic campaign to protect the entrenched industrial information economy of the last century threatens the promise of today's emerging networked information environment. In this comprehensive social theory of the Internet and the networked information economy, Benkler describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changing--and shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves. He describes the range of legal and policy choices that confront us and maintains that there is much to be gained--or lost--by the decisions we make today.

4,002 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Archon Fung1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation, including who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action.
Abstract: The multifaceted challenges of contemporary governance demand a complex account of the ways in which those who are subject to laws and policies should participate in making them. This article develops a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation. Mechanisms of participation vary along three important dimensions: who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action. These three dimensions constitute a space in which any particular mechanism of participation can be located. Different regions of this institutional design space are more and less suited to addressing important problems of democratic governance such as legitimacy, justice, and effective administration.

1,526 citations

01 Dec 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the current debate about the nature of democracy and discuss the main theses of the approach called "deliberative democracy" in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forth by Jurgen Habermas.
Abstract: This article examines the current debate about the nature of democracy and discusses the main theses of the approach called 'deliberative democracy' in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forwardby Jurgen Habermas. While agreeing with them as regards to the need to develop a more of democracy than the one offered by the 'aggregative' model, I submit that they do not provide an adequate understanding of the main task of democracy. No doubt, by stating that democracy cannot be reduced to a question of procedures to mediate among conflicting interests, deliberative democrats defend a conception of democracy that presents a richer conception of politics. But, albeit in a different way thanthe view they criticize, their vision is also a rationalist one which leaves aside the crucial role played by 'passions' and collective forms of identifications in the field of politics. Moreover, in their attempt to reconcile the liberal tradition with the democratic one, deliberative democrats tend to erase the tension that exist between liberalism and democracy and they are therefore unable to come to terms with the conflictual nature of democratic politics. The main thesis that I put forward in this article is that democratic theory needs to acknowledge the ineradicability of antagonism and the impossibility of achieving a fully inclusive rational consensus. I argue that a model of democracy in terms of 'agonistic pluralism' can help us to better envisage the main challenge facing democratic politics today: how to create democratic forms of identifications that will contribute to mobilize passions towards democratic designs.;

1,338 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared...

936 citations

Book
05 Oct 2012
TL;DR: Tweets and the Streets as mentioned in this paper examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest, arguing that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality.
Abstract: Tweets and the Streets analyses the culture of the new protest movements of the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the "indignados" protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest. Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality. Instead, social media is used as part of a project of re-appropriation of public space, which involves the assembling of different groups around "occupied" places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square or New York's Zuccotti Park. An exciting and invigorating journey through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political evanescence which new media brings to the contemporary protest experience.

911 citations