In a democracy, all citizens are considered as equal members in society, with equal rights to take part in public decision making. To ensure that all citizens could take part in decision making , scholars of deliberative democracy suggested the public decision should follow these values:
Free and falsifiable knowledge: Decisions should be based upon corroborated knowledge, which is knowledge that was tested and verified by the public[1][2][3]. All public knowledge is transparant and is ready for public analysis and understanding[4]. The public enjoy free public sphere to deliberate [5]. Deliberation is free. No other force other than reason can be used[6]. The public deliberate on common concerns[7].
Inclusive and equal: According to Habermas, Deliberation is Inclusive, which means, every citizen, no matter what his qualities should be able to participate on equal terms, without discrimination due to economic, education or other causes: Citizens must have adequate and equal opportunities to form their preference and place questions on the public agenda and express reasons for one outcome over the other. Their voting is equal, and the knowledge should be engaged in a mannar that will let every participant effectivly understand the subject in hand[8].
Openess:The participants must keep open the possibility of changing their minds, and continuing a reason-giving dialogue that can challenge previous decisions and laws[9].
Political capbilities:The public develop political competence (Cohen). The public control the process of deliberation and the agenda (Dahl).
Learning from exprience:The government follows the public decision, the actions and the results are transparent, and the public can learn and improve future decisions (Cohen).
References
- ↑ Popper, K. (2002). The Logic of Scientific Discovery (Routledge Classics). Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Logic-Scientific-Discovery-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415278449
- ↑ Popper, Karl Sir. The open society and its enemies. Routledge, 2012.
- ↑ Habermas, J. (1986). Communicative rationality and the theories of meaning and action. Habermas (1998f), 183–214.
- ↑ Dror, Yebezkel. "Transparency and openness of quality democracy." Openness and transparency in governance: Challenges and opportunities (1999): 25-43.
- ↑ Habermas, Jürgen. "The public sphere: An encyclopedia article." Media and cultural studies (2001): 73.
- ↑ Cohen, J. (1989). Deliberation and democratic legitimacy. Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy, 342.
- ↑ Habermas 1989:xi
- ↑ Dahl, R. A. (1989). Democracy and its critiques. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- ↑ Gutmann, Amy, and Dennis Thompson (2004). Why Deliberative Democracy? pp. 3-7.