THE ROLE OF DELIBERATION
Though it may not be obvious, this simple model relies upon two critical assumptions. This model assumes that voters know what government actions are in their own best interest, and it assumes that voters know a great deal about the intentions and actions of incumbents and challengers. In reality, voter self-awareness and political knowledge vary tremendously over time and across different social groups, so it is preferable to change these underlying assumptions into model variables. This makes the model more complex, but it also highlights the importance of two forms of public deliberation. For citizens to exercise their voice and vote effectively, it is necessary that they have sound insight into both their own interests and the virtues of competing candidates.
Because they depend upon clarification of interests and the articulation of policy judgments, the expression of an authentic public voice and well-informed attempts at electoral rejection are only likely to occur when they follow a period of sustained deliberation. I define public deliberation as discussion that involves judicious argument, critical listening, and earnest decision making. Following the writings of John Dewey, full deliberation includes a careful examination of a problem or issue, the identification of possible solutions, the establishment or reaffirmation of evaluative criteria, and the use of these criteria in identifying an optimal solution. Within a specific policy debate or in the context of an election, deliberation sometimes starts with a given set of solutions, but it always involves problem analysis, criteria specification, and evaluation.[31]
Lest this process sound too tepid, I should stress that the deliberative discussion of problems and solutions can include emotional appeals. As Jane Mansbridge insists, "We must avoid the traditional, frequently male, mandate to ‘keep emotions out of it.’ … Appeals for the common good require an emotional and cognitive probing of one's own feelings of empathy, admiration, revulsion, or horror." Mansbridge recognizes that "appeals to emotion can be dangerous," and she suggests that "emotional appeals must therefore stand up to reflection in tranquillity."[32] The point is simply that the expression of strong feelings has its place in deliberation.
Having defined public deliberation, I now wish to clarify the meaning of democratic deliberation, a term that further specifies the ideal relations among the people taking part in a discussion within a democratic political system.[33] To be democratic, deliberation must include diverse participants from the larger public, and it should use an egalitarian decision rule (e.g., consensus or majority rule) to resolve conflicts among participants. Some deliberative theorists, such as Joshua Cohen, argue that "ideal deliberation aims to arrive at a rationally motivated consensus," but striving toward consensus does not require the use of a strict consensus procedure, which gives each participant veto power over any collective decisions.[34]
In addition, participants in democratic deliberation must have equal and adequate opportunities to speak, and they must be able to comprehend what other participants say. Participants in democratic deliberation also have a responsibility to avoid manipulative discourse, provide other participants with any relevant knowledge they possess, and consider carefully what others say. Using Jürgen Habermas's terms,
The basic purpose of deliberation is to make sound decisions. Though the philosopher John Rawls used the term sparingly in his 1971 treatise A Theory of Justice, deliberation is the central mechanism in his method of evaluating public policy. Rawls's influential moral theory argues that people can judge a policy by imagining that they are unaware of their actual social position. Behind this hypothetical "veil of ignorance," people can objectively evaluate the degree to which a policy protects the public's basic freedoms and ensures a decent quality of life for the least well-off.[36] Rawls argues that such a philosophical exercise is most fruitful when conducted in a deliberative process:
We normally assume that an ideally conducted discussion among many persons is more likely to arrive at the correct conclusion (by a vote if necessary) than the deliberations of any one of them by himself…. Discussion is a way of combining information and enlarging the range of arguments. At least in the course of time, the effects of common deliberation seem bound to improve matters.[37]
Rawls adheres to the commonsense notion that many minds are better than one at flnding an optimal solution to a problem. Though public skepticism about the value of committee decisions persists, Rawls's faith in group discussion appears to be well founded. Research in social psychology and small group communication has found that, on balance, group discussion generally results in higher-quality decisions than do methods that rely upon single individuals. Moreover, past research has shown that group discussion leads to better decisions than noninteractive methods of collective decision making. In sum, groups produce better average decisions than individuals, and groups that engage in deliberation outperform nominal groups that simply pool individual opinions without open-ended discussion.[38]
Deliberation is even more important for complex social and political problems. Unlike technical or scientiflc puzzles, public policy problems are inextricably interconnected, difficult to deflne and study, and impossible to remove completely. The evaluation of alternative solutions to public policy problems requires value judgments, as well as technical analysis.[39] The latter feature is most important: political deliberation is not only valuable as a means of grappling with complexity, it also serves democracy by helping citizens clarify the implications of their
Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson make a slightly different argument for deliberation. Though these authors recognize the virtue of discussion as a means of pooling information and developing citizens' interests, they emphasize its value as a legitimate method of addressing moral conflicts. "Deliberation," they argue, "is the most appropriate way for citizens collectively to resolve their moral disagreements not only about policies but also about the process by which policies should be adopted." Gutmann and Thompson criticize those who would leave moral issues for the courts to resolve or bar their entrance into the political realm altogether. In their view, political deliberation is the only fair and effective means of handling moral conflict. Deliberation requires both citizens and representatives to present reasons and justiflcations for their views and to consider alternative views. When successful, deliberation can confer legitimacy upon even majoritarian policy decisions, so long as those decisions take conflicting views into account. Even if it does not produce a solution acceptable to all, it may at least preserve mutual respect among the parties to an unresolved debate.[42]
Relating these advantages to the exit, voice, and loyalty model, deliberation can strengthen the public's voice, ease its ability to collectively reject unrepresentative officeholders, and inspire a modest loyalty to responsive elected officials. A strong public voice requires that citizens develop their interests in relation to policy and articulate those interests clearly. Public deliberation has precisely those qualities when it takes place in an open setting and is inclusive of a diverse sample of the larger public. At least those directly participating in deliberation are likely to sharpen their own understandings of public policy problems and the solutions that best reflect their basic values. If public officials learn the results of the deliberation, the process can also serve as a means of clearly expressing the participants' judgments to elected representatives.
Having developed their interests more fully, participants in a deliberative discussion are better able to evaluate candidates effectively. Once voters know how they view an issue, they are more likely to examine
At the same time, an electorate that engages in deliberation with its public officials might develop a stronger loyalty toward those officials who demonstrate not only responsiveness but also respect for the deliberative process. Democratic citizens perceive deliberation as a legitimate means for arriving at public decisions, and officials who conflict with majority opinion but explain their views and consider voters' positions might withstand opposition during elections because of their willingness to deliberate. As suggested earlier, a measure of reasoned loyalty beneflts the representative system by keeping in officials who might misstep from time to time yet remain genuinely responsive to voters' concerns.