In reverse of the conceptions of democracy which reduce the political decision to the statement of votes, the deliberative theory relies on the capacity of citizens to find together solutions of general interest, by information and discussion.
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History of a notion. Associate citizens more closely with public decision and organize consultation on the issues that concern them. The idea is on the agenda, in response to electoral abstention and the erosion of traditional parties. At the heart of this reflection, the concept of deliberation arouses renewed interest in the face of complex choices imposed by the environmental crisis. Some recommend a “deliberative continuum”, integrated into the future “ecological planning”, such as France Strategy, others argue for a “a deliberative turning point in French democracy”, as the former president of the Economic and Social Council Patrick Bernasconi.
But what deliberation are we talking about, who participates in it and how to organize it? This ancient notion, closing democracy, is the subject of prolific literature and evolves according to the eras. “The words which designate this public debate, its exact place and, in particular, the way in which it can involve the multitude have deferred greatly according to the contexts”, notes the political scientist Yves Sintomer in the journal participations, in 2011.
The first texts date from ancient Greece and place the public debate of citizens – reserved for free men – at the center of the political decision -making process. Aristotle sees in deliberation, individual or collective, the condition of a free and thoughtful action, unlike the impulse. But there is already the question of the quality of the collective discussion, and the risk of manipulation of crowds by the one who speaks best. This fear will later lead the Italian cities to reserve the public debate for a limited circle.
foundation of democratic legitimacy
From the 18th century e century, deliberation, “namely a well -conducted debate considering all the data of a problem and leading to decision -making” becomes in democracies Modern the affair of a “distinct elective aristocracy of the people as a whole”, underlines Yves Sintomer, “the opinion of the masses being always suspected of pouring into the irrational”. However, from the middle of the nineteenth e century, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill questions this model (considerations on the representative government, 1861), affirming that representative democracy implies, beyond the vote, a active participation of citizens in deliberation. The idea of a necessary “public space”, where everyone can weigh on the decisions that concern them, notably through the media and political parties, will be synthesized a century later by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas.
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