Democracy

Yuwanto, Ph.D.
Outline:

A. Conception of Democracy
B. Models of Democracy
C. Deliberative Democracy

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 The theory of modern democracy was not
formulated until the Age of Enlightenment when
political theorists defined the essential elements
of democracy such as basic civil rights, separation
of church and state, separation of power

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 Democracy
• "rule by the (simple) people“
• “government of the people, by the people,
for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865)

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 Meaning:
1. Democracy as source of state authority
2. Democracy as the purpose of government
3. Democracy as a method of choosing political
leaders

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 A. Conception of Democracy

Procedural Conceptions Substantive Conceptions

Minimal Middle-ground Maximal
conceptions Conceptions conceptions

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Three Ways of Conceptualizing Democracy

1. A procedural or minimal conception.

Emphasize on the single most important defining
property of democracy – the authority of
government derives from the consent of people or
electoral participation through free, open and
contested elections.

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2. A substantive or maximal conception.
Tend to stress conceptual breadth which involves a
larger number of defining properties intrinsic to
democracy. Under this definition, the conception of
democracy embraces effective and responsible
government, rational deliberation, openness in
politics, economic equality, social justice, equal
participation and power, etc.

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3. A middle-ground position.
Avoid either an overly narrow or overly broad
definition
a. allow the contestation over power in free and
fair elections
b. accountability of the ruler to the ruled
c. checks and balances in the exercise of
government
d. the neutrality of the armed forces
e. protection of civil and political liberty and rights
of every citizen.

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 B. Models of Democracy

 Democracy does indeed sometimes look a bit

like a Christmas tree, a positive symbol to
which one can attach any good things one likes
(John Dunn, 1979)

• Adjectives that can be, and have been, attached to

democracy: constitutional, deliberative, electoral, elitist,
liberal, majoritarian, parliamentary, participatory,
pluralist, presidential, procedural, representative, etc.

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 Models Of Democracy

Individual Rights

Liberal
Democracy
Low Mass High Mass
Participation Participation

Elite Majoritarian
Democracy Democracy
General Welfare
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 Models of Democracy

 Majoritarian democracy
• most important goal is maximizing mass
participation
• high mass participation will result in
decisions being made that maximize the
general welfare

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 Elite democracy
• most important goal is the general welfare
• requires an elite capable of pursuing the long-
term interests of society
–actually values low mass participation

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 Liberal democracy
• most important goal is protecting individual
rights
• does not prefer low mass participation but
may be willing to accept it

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 C. Deliberative Democracy

 The Deliberative Turn

• Though democracy comes in many varieties, the

dominant current in democratic theory is now a
deliberative one

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• Deliberative democracy is a form of democracy in
which deliberation is central to decision making. It
adopts elements of both consensus decision-
making and majority rule

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• Deliberative democracy differs from traditional
democratic theory in that authentic deliberation,
not mere voting, is the primary source of
legitimacy for the lawmaking processes

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• Yet prior to 1990, theorists generally interpreted
democracy in terms of the aggregation of the
interests or preferences of the people through
mechanisms such as voting and representation
that produce collective decisions

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• Deliberative democracy holds that, for a
democratic decision to be legitimate, it must be
preceded by authentic deliberation, not merely
the aggregation of preferences that occurs in
voting

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• Authentic deliberation is deliberation among
decision-makers that is free from distortions of
unequal political power, such as power a
decision-maker obtained through economic
wealth or the support of interest groups

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• If the decision-makers cannot reach consensus
after authentically deliberating on a proposal,
then they vote on the proposal using a form of
majority rule

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 The importance of the deliberative turn was
confirmed in the 1990s by the announcements of the
most important liberal theorist John Rawls, and
critical theorist Jürgen Habermas, that they were
deliberative democrats (Rawls, 1993; 1997; Habermas, 1996).

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 Principles
Cohen, J. (1989) “Deliberative Democracy & Democratic Legitimacy” in
Hamlin, A. & Pettit, P. (eds.) The Good Polity. Oxford: Blackwell pp. 17-
34.

1. Citizens must decide that deliberation is the

basis upon which all decisions must be based

2. Only decisions reached through this procedure

can be taken as legitimate and worthy of
pursuing

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3. The process and procedures must be
transparent and decisions must be easily
traceable back to the deliberative process

4. There must be a commitment to respect the

pluralism of values and aims as expressed by all

5. Each member and all members must be

accorded equal opportunities to participate
freely in the deliberative processes

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 Compatiblity

• Deliberative democracy is compatible with both

representative democracy and direct democracy
• The term "deliberative democracy" was originally
coined by Joseph M. Bessette (1980) in his work:
“Deliberative Democracy: The Majority Principle in
Republican Government”

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• Deliberative democracy can be practiced by
decision-makers in both representative
democracies and direct democracies

 In elitist deliberative democracy, principles of

deliberative democracy apply to elite societal
decision-making bodies, such as legislatures
and courts

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• If political decisions are made by deliberation
but not by the people themselves or their
elected representatives, this deliberative
process is called elite deliberation

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 In populist deliberative democracy, principles of
deliberative democracy apply to groups of lay
citizens who are empowered to make decisions

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• Populist deliberative democracy can be used to
distill a more authentic public opinion about
societal issues but not directly create binding
law

• Or, it can be to serve as a form of direct

democracy, where deliberation among a group
of lay citizens forms a "public will" and directly
creates binding law

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 Strengths and Weaknesses
• Strenghts
• Deliberative democratic models tend, more
than any other model, to generate ideal
conditions of impartiality, rationality and
knowledge of the relevant facts (James
Fearon)
• The more these conditions are fulfilled, the
greater the likelihood that the decisions
reached are morally correct (Carlos Nino)

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• Deliberative democracy tends to produce
outcomes which are superior to those in other
forms of democracy. It produces less partisanship
and more sympathy with opposing views; more
respect for evidence based reasoning rather than
opinion; a greater commitment to the decisions
taken by those involved; and a greater chance for
widely shared consensus to emerge, thus
promoting social cohesion between people from
different backgrounds (James Fishkin)

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• Weaknesses
• A claimed failure of most theories of
deliberative democracy is that they do not
address the problems of voting. A common
charge against deliberation as opposed to plain
voting, is that potentially it allows those most
skilled in rhetoric to sway the decision in their
favor

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