Deliberative Policy Making

Christian Hunold

Deliberative policy making applies principles derived from the theory of deliberative democracy to public policy making. The theory of deliberative democracy responds to the perceived shortcomings of a majoritarian democracy where actors bargain to defend their interests (strategic action), bargaining and voting procedures do not change actors' preferences while discouraging social learning, the strong impose their will on the weak, and constraints on lying, deception, and manipulation are few and far between. Against this vision of democracy as a pluralist interest aggregation, deliberative democracy upholds an alternative model based on discussion and persuasion where actors must defend and criticize proposals with reasoning they believe others will accept (communicative action), public discussion can transform actors' preferences, the majority prefers to compromise with the minority, and inclusion in public discussion of all social positions and perspectives aims to maximize social learning. Deliberative policy making aims for genuine preference transformation rather than mere ...

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