Deliberation, and What Else?

Abstract

Abstract The recent outpouring of books and articles on deliberative democracy is very impressive, and many of the arguments are persuasive. But there has been so little disagreement about deliberation-and no effort at all to consider its contexts and complements-that the idea is in danger of becoming common-place and sterile.1 So I intend to indulge a contrarian impulse and try to make a list of all the nondeliberative activities that democratic politics legitimately, and perhaps even necessarily, involves. I doubt that the list is exhaustive, though I have not knowingly left anything out. As will quickly become obvious, I have not made deliberation synonymous with thinking; mine is not a list of thoughtless activities. Deliberation here describes a particular way of thinking: quiet, reflective, open to a wide range of evidence, respectful of different views. It is a rational process of weighing the available data, considering alternative possibilities, arguing about relevance and worthiness, and then choosing the best policy or person.

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