Deliberative democracy

Z Encyklopedia Administracji Publicznej

DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY – public communication process and consideration of different views, involving the extraction of arguments that lead to the solution to the problem or the establishment of a consensus. It is based on the claim that the essence of democracy is deliberation, which is communication based on argumentation, striving for truth and understanding. The basis for deliberation is to strive for a compromise in these matters. True deliberation should be: free from political influence, open, public and conducted for the common good, not a particular interest, free from coercion, none of its participants can be marginalized or favoured – equality of participants in the deliberation process is assumed, everyone has the same chances of speaking on a specific matter, submitting proposals or arguments. The basic principle is discussion, dialogue and communication on the most important public issues and the openness about the topics discussed in its course. Proponents of deliberation argue that a political decision, in order to obtain legitimacy, does not have to be made as a result of voting, in their opinion it may be the result of a process of argumentation free from violence and coercion. The most popular deliberation techniques include: deliberative survey, citizens’ courts, open space technique (open meetings), Charette workshops, citizens’ panel, research walk, interactive map [ E. Szulc-Wałecka ].

Literature: J. Hebermas, Faktyczność i obowiązywanie. Teoria dyskursu wobec zagadnień prawa i demokratycznego państwa prawnego [Factuality and validity. The theory of discourse on the issues of law and the democratic legal state], Warszawa 2005 ■ W. Misztal, Dialog obywatelski we współczesnej Polsce [Civil dialogue in contemporary Poland], Lublin 2011.

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