Deliberative democracy and legitimacy

Abstract

In this paper I approach the issue of the legitimacy of deliberative democracy according to how the problem between deliberation and participation is resolved. The assumption is that the decision arrived at through deliberation is legitimate if all those impacted by this decision have parttaken in its making. However, it is believed that the deliberation of all whom the decision concerns is impossible. The representative model of deliberative democracy, proposed by John Parkinson, offers a solution to this problem, commonly named mini-forums strategy. The critique of all attempts at developing theory through mini-forums as institutionalized forms of decision-making, submitted by Christina Lafont, demonstrates certain flaws of such attempts, but it also showcases some valuable ideas Parkinson put forth. After presenting the critique offered by Lafont I will provide my own critique of Parkinson?s model, in which I indicate: 1) the relativism of his definitions, which creates issues regarding the application of his theory and 2) the inadequacy of strategies which offer solutions of the problem of the legitimacy of deliberative democracy through a representational model.nema