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Legitimacy Problems in Deliberative Democracy

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  • John Parkinson

Abstract

The classic accounts of deliberative democracy are also accounts of legitimacy: ‘that outcomes are legitimate to the extent they receive reflective assent through participation in authentic deliberation by all those subject to the decision in question’ (Dryzek, 2001, p. 651). And yet, in complex societies deliberative participation by all those affected by collective decision‐making is extremely implausible. There are also legitimacy problems with the demanding procedural requirements which deliberation imposes on participants. Given these problems, deliberative democracy seems unable to deliver legitimate outcomes as it defines them. Focusing on the problem of scale, this paper offers a tentative solution using representation, a concept which is itself problematic. Along the way, the paper highlights issues with the legitimate role of experts, the different legitimate uses of statistical and electoral representation, and differences between the research and democratic imperatives driving current attempts to put deliberative principles into practice, illustrated with a case from a Leicester health policy debate. While much work remains to be done on exactly how the principles arrived at might be transformed into working institutions, they do offer a means of criticising existing deliberative practice.

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  • John Parkinson, 2003. "Legitimacy Problems in Deliberative Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 180-196, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:51:y:2003:i:1:p:180-196
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-9248.00419
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    1. Graham Smith & Corinne Wales, 2000. "Citizens' Juries and Deliberative Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 48(1), pages 51-65, March.
    2. Ian Chowcat, 2000. "Moral Pluralism, Political Justification and Deliberative Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 48(4), pages 745-758, September.
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    Cited by:

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    7. Hysing, Erik, 2015. "Citizen participation or representative government – Building legitimacy for the Gothenburg congestion tax," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-8.
    8. Siangulube, Freddie S. & Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Reed, James & Moombe, Kaala. B. & Sunderland, Terry, 2023. "Multistakeholder platforms for integrated landscape governance: The case of Kalomo District, Zambia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
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    11. Saverio Miccoli & Fabrizio Finucci & Rocco Murro, 2014. "A Monetary Measure of Inclusive Goods: The Concept of Deliberative Appraisal in the Context of Urban Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Carolyn M. Hendriks, 2006. "When the Forum Meets Interest Politics: Strategic Uses of Public Deliberation," Politics & Society, , vol. 34(4), pages 571-602, December.
    13. Michael Haus & David Sweeting, 2006. "Local Democracy and Political Leadership: Drawing a Map," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(2), pages 267-288, June.
    14. Carolyn M. Hendriks & John S. Dryzek & Christian Hunold, 2007. "Turning Up the Heat: Partisanship in Deliberative Innovation," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 55(2), pages 362-383, June.
    15. Monika Brusenbauch Meislová, 2023. "In Quest for Discursive Legitimation of Ongoing Policy Processes: Constructing Brexit as a Success Story," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 815-833, May.
    16. Carolyn Hendriks & Lyn Carson, 2008. "Can the market help the forum? Negotiating the commercialization of deliberative democracy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(4), pages 293-313, December.
    17. Baker, Rachel & Mason, Helen & McHugh, Neil & Donaldson, Cam, 2021. "Public values and plurality in health priority setting: What to do when people disagree and why we should care about reasons as well as choices," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    18. Eduardo Álvarez-Miranda & Camilo Campos-Valdés & Maurcio Morales Quiroga & Matías Moreno-Faguett & Jordi Pereira, 2020. "A Multi-Criteria Pen for Drawing Fair Districts: When Democratic and Demographic Fairness Matter," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-26, August.
    19. Andrea Felicetti, 2018. "A Deliberative Case for Democracy in Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 803-814, July.
    20. Chisung Park & Jooha Lee & Changho Chung, 2015. "Is “legitimized” policy always successful? Policy legitimacy and cultural policy in Korea," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(3), pages 319-338, September.
    21. Melika Levelt & Tamara Metze, 2014. "The legitimacy of regional governance networks: Gaining credibility in the shadow of hierarchy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(11), pages 2371-2386, August.
    22. Mathew Humphrey, 2006. "Democratic Legitimacy, Public Justification and Environmental Direct Action," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(2), pages 310-327, June.
    23. Farrell, Katharine N., 2014. "Intellectual mercantilism and franchise equity: A critical study of the ecological political economy of international payments for ecosystem services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 137-146.
    24. Saverio Miccoli & Fabrizio Finucci & Rocco Murro, 2015. "Measuring Shared Social Appreciation of Community Goods: An Experiment for the East Elevated Expressway of Rome," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-25, November.

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