Understanding Deliberative Democracy

This compilation is a comprehensive guide to contemporary deliberative democracy thought. It contains four guides, beginning with the basic tenets of deliberative democracy theory in Deliberative Democracy Basics, before moving on to explore the deliberative theories of John Rawls, Jurgen Habermas, and John Dryzek. The four guides are:

Deliberative Democracy Basics

This concise, essay length guide covers the basics of deliberative democracy by canvassing a spectrum of theories on the subject. It explains what is unique about deliberative theories of democracy, what they all have in common, as well as how they differ.
Jurgen Habermas and Deliberative Democracy

Jurgen Habermas is one of the most influential thinkers of our time. This detailed, article length guide examines his theory of deliberative democracy and covers many of the central concepts such as communicative reason, communicative power, and the ideal speech community.

John Rawls and Deliberative Democracy

This detailed, article length guide is a clearly written, in-depth analysis of John Rawls's deliberative democracy theory. It covers important concepts in Rawls's theory including the idea of public reason and the politicised public sphere.

John Dryzek and Deliberative Democracy

John Dryzek argues for a transnational deliberative democracy that moves beyond the nation state. This detailed, article length guide outlines Dryzek's radical concept of citizenship, his arguments about de-traditionalisation of societies through globalisation, and a transnational public sphere.
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