Journal Article•
Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy
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
More filters
01 Jan 2006
2,797 citations
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
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
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how individuals can influence decisions about the delivery of water services in England and Wales and conclude that privatisation and restructuring have had a limited impact on an individual water user's capacity to influence decision-making.
Abstract: This paper examines how individuals can influence decisions about the delivery of water services in England and Wales. It first examines the capacity of individuals to shape government policy and then turns to an analysis of the private sector. In particular, we ask whether recent restructuring in the water sector – notably changes in business models and governance structures – has increased the opportunity for individuals to influence the investment decisions made by private firms and their plans for restructuring. The paper concludes that privatisation and restructuring have had a limited impact on an individual water user's capacity to influence decision-making. Water users remain dependent on penetrating state-controlled lobbying networks via sanctioned pressure groups. Recent changes in ideas about governance might have a much more significant impact on user participation in the future.
47 citations
Book•
13 Nov 2017
TL;DR: Cultural Compliance: Media: Cultural Studies and Social Science Greg Philo and David Miller Contributions and Commentaries: Disciplinary dead-ends and alternative theory 1. What is wrong with science and rationality? Noam Chomsky 2. Life after the science wars? Hilary Rose 3. Film Theory and bogus theory Derek Bouse 4. Free market feminism, New Labour and the cultural meaning of the TV blonde Angela McRobbie 5. The 'Public', the 'Popular' and media studies John Corner 6. The emperor's new theoretical clothes, or geography without origami Chris
Abstract: Cultural Compliance: Media: Cultural Studies and Social Science Greg Philo and David Miller Contributions and Commentaries: Disciplinary dead-ends and alternative theory 1. What is wrong with science and rationality? Noam Chomsky 2. Life after the science wars? Hilary Rose 3. Film Theory and bogus theory Derek Bouse 4. Free market feminism, New Labour and the cultural meaning of the TV blonde Angela McRobbie 5. The 'Public', the 'Popular' and media studies John Corner 6. The emperor's new theoretical clothes, or geography without origami Chris Hamnett 7. Political economy Andrew Gamble Theory and practice 8. Media research and the audit culture Philip Schlesinger 9. Corporate culture and the academic left Barbara Epstein 10. Privatisation: Claims, outcomes and explanations Jean Shaoul 11. Media regulation in the era of market liberalism James Curran 12. Alternatives in the media age Danny Schechter 13. Political frustrations in the post-modern fog Hilary Wainwright Index
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a case study in Berlin and asked whether and if so, how the beekeeping trend provides answers to the problem of honeybee decline, which threatens pollination in agriculture and ecosystems.
Abstract: In recent years, a honeybee decline has been observed that threatens pollination in agriculture and ecosystems. At the same time, a growing interest in beekeeping has been reported, especially in the metropolises and cities. We conducted a case study in Berlin and asked whether and, if so, how the beekeeping trend provides answers to the problem of honeybee decline. Our approach combines social science methods of case reconstruction with a methodology derived from the political ecology of Latour and his actor-network studies. We provide data to describe the development of beekeeping and trace three main changes in recent years: public debates about bees and beekeeping, the diversification of beekeeping opportunities, and new actors and reasons for beekeeping. We discuss the results referring to Latour’s political ecology, which provides a foundation for considering democratically qualified ways of dealing with the socio-ecological consequences of the honeybee decline. What we found is an interplay of acto...
47 citations
TL;DR: This article assess the democratic implications of new media in China through the lens of three key and nested criteria derived from general theories of deliberative democracy: information access, rational-critical deliberation and mechanisms of vertical accountability.
Abstract: What is the role of new media in driving political change in China? How do we understand the interaction of rapid increases in connectivity, regime censorship and democratic outcomes? This article seeks to assess the democratic implications of new media in China through the lens of three key and nested criteria derived from general theories of deliberative democracy: information access, rational-critical deliberation and mechanisms of vertical accountability. The key finding is that connectivity expands political opportunity. How this opportunity is exploited is up to users, who often vary widely in their political preferences, values, and norms of behaviour. The results are multiple mechanisms of change taking place simultaneously and the development of a more interactive and pluralistic public sphere. While China obviously still has to develop far more formalised and institutionalised mechanisms for managing state-society relations, political pluralism in the form of online deliberation might be...
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the rule-making process in successive trade rounds that led up to the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the politics of the organisation's rule-application and consensus-making practices, revealing how the lack of legitimating procedures and rational deliberation at the WTO yields power politics and unjust outcomes.
Abstract: Habermas's rules-based deliberative democratic perspective underscores issues of power, legitimacy and justice. The article deploys this perspective to reveal how the lack of legitimating procedures and rational deliberation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) yields power politics and unjust outcomes. It examines the rule-making process in the successive trade Rounds that led up to the WTO, as well as the politics of the organisation's rule-application and consensus-making practices.
47 citations