When the People Speak Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation

by Fishkin, James S.

• ISBN13: 9780191803574
• ISBN10: 019180357X
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2011-09-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

All over the world, democratic reforms have brought power to the people, but under conditions where the people have little opportunity to think about the power that they exercise. In this book, James Fishkin combines a new theory of democracy with actual practice and shows how an idea that harks back to ancient Athens can be used to revive our modern democracies. When the People Speak outlines deliberative democracy projects conducted by the author with various collaborators in the US, China, Britain, Denmark, Australia, Italy, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, and in the entire European Union. These projects have resulted in the massive expansion of wind power in Texas, the building of sewage treatment plants in China, and greater mutual understanding between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

Author Biography

James S. Fishkin holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University where he teaches Communication and Political Science and Directs the Center for Deliberative Democracy. He is author of a number of books including Democracy and Deliberation, The Dialogue of Justice, The Voice of the People, and Deliberation Day (with Bruce Ackerman). His Deliberative Polling process has been conducted in countries ranging from China and Bulgaria to Denmark, Britain, Australia, Italy, Hungary, and the US.