When the People Speak Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation

by Fishkin, James S.

• ISBN13: 9780199604432
• ISBN10: 0199604436
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• 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 Speakoutlines 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. The book is accompanied by a DVD of "Europe in One Room" by Emmy Award-winning documentary makers Paladin Invision. The film recounts one of the most challenging deliberative democracy efforts with a scientific sample from 27 countries speaking 21 languages.

Author Biography

James S. Fishkin is Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication and Director, Center for Deliberative Democracy, Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Preface to Paperback Edition	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Charts	p. xv
Democratic Aspirations	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
From Athens to Athens	p. 9
Consulting the public	p. 13
The filter and the mirror	p. 15
Reflecting the people as they are	p. 17
Deliberative versus mass democracy: An early skirmish	p. 18
Eight methods of public consultation	p. 21
The Trilemma of Democratic Reform	p. 32
How am I included?	p. 32
Deliberation	p. 33
Political equality	p. 43
Participation	p. 45
Three conflicting options	p. 46
Mass democracy	p. 47
Mobilized deliberation	p. 53
Deliberative microcosms	p. 54
Avoiding tyranny of the majority	p. 60
Competing Visions	p. 65
Four democratic theories	p. 65
Competitive democracy	p. 66
Elite deliberation	p. 70
Participatory democracy	p. 76
Deliberative democracy	p. 80
Deliberation versus aggregation?	p. 85
Scale and the forms of democracy	p. 88
Making Deliberative Democracy Practical	p. 95
Bringing the public sphere to life: Four questions	p. 95
How inclusive?	p. 96
How thoughtful?	p. 99
Avoiding distortions: The problem of domination	p. 100
Avoiding distortions: Polarization and groupthink	p. 101
To what effect?	p. 102
Under what conditions?	p. 104
Making Deliberation Consequential	p. 106
A case from China	p. 106
Representativeness	p. 111
Assessing the poll with a human face: Thoughtfulness	p. 119
Domination?	p. 128
Movement to extremes?	p. 131
To what effect?	p. 133
Changes in policy attitudes	p. 134
Changes in voting intention	p. 135
Changes in civic capacities	p. 139
Changes in collective consistency	p. 143
Changes in the public dialogue	p. 146
Changes in policy	p. 150
Deliberating Under Difficult Conditions	p. 159
Pushing the boundaries of public consultation	p. 159
Divided societies: Deliberating across difference	p. 161
Virtual democracy	p. 169
The problem of a European-wide public sphere	p. 175
Putting Europe in one room	p. 183
Implementing democratic ideals	p. 189
Concluding reflections: Democracy, justice, and other trilemmas	p. 191
Appendix: Why We Need Only Four Democratic Theories	p. 197
Notes	p. 201
Index	p. 229
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