Definition of Deliberative Democracy

The democratic system began its journey 2,500 years ago in the polis of Athens. Athenian citizens met in assemblies to propose laws collectively and with this mechanism the polis was governed by the will of the people. The Athenian experience was an exception and, in fact, it was not until the French Revolution in 1789 when the democracy began a new course.

The participation citizen in the government of the people has been conformed from a model of representation in the one that the voters vote for their candidates so that they represent them in a chamber parliamentary.

The representative system has been complemented with citizen participation mechanisms that allow the people to intervene in the day-to-day activities politics (the popular initiative and the plebiscites collected in different constitutions are a clear example in this regard). In recent years, some philosophers and political scientists have incorporated new proposals to reinforce the government of the people, which are framed within a general denomination, democracy deliberative.

Deliberate means to reflect on something

If we combine this concept with that of democracy, we find the following reality: the people analyze the pros and cons of an issue in order to arrive at a conclusion.

Deliberative democracy should be understood as a complement to the conventional representation system

In this sense, citizens organize popular assemblies in order to contribute their point of view on any matter of general interest.

Minority groups whose proposals do not prosper are not excluded from the political debate, since their voice is fully integrated into all channels of participation. At the same time, the various individual opinions are also made known. The democratic system based on deliberation is built on the reciprocal recognition of all the citizenship.

The central axis of this proposal is the exchange of ideas among totally equal citizens and without any type of hierarchy. Through the deliberations, the creation of concrete proposals based on the idea of ​​consensus and the search for the common good is sought.

This model of democracy is not without criticism

It is said that it could be valid only in small communities, but inapplicable in highly populated countries. Likewise, there are many issues in which great specialization is necessary and it does not make much sense for a layman to pronounce on something that he does not know. In other words, would it be acceptable for an assembly of citizens to vote on the educational programs that are part of a teaching model or decide not to comply with some laws because they consider them unfair?

Finally, in the assemblies there is a political deliberation that could become spaces where some intellectual elites end up imposing their will on others.

Fotolia photos: Sderbane / JiSign