Democratic education in the fourth generation of deliberative democracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 147787852110171
Author(s):  
Kei Nishiyama

While the discussion on education for deliberative democracy is increasingly gaining prominence, there is a deep gap between the theories of deliberative democracy and democratic education with respect to what deliberative democracy is and ought to be. As a result, theories and practices of democratic education tend to be grounded in a narrow understanding of the meaning of deliberative competencies, students’ deliberative agency, and the role of schools in deliberative democracy. Drawing on the latest theorization of deliberative democracy – deliberative system theory – this article aims to question and revise these assumptions. The article suggests that meta-deliberation is a key practice that can reconcile the gap between the two theories.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Biale ◽  
Valeria Ottonelli

From within a “systemic approach” to deliberative democracy, political parties can be seen as crucial actors in facilitating deliberation, by playing epistemic, motivational, and justificatory functions that are central to the deliberative ideal. However, we point out that if we assume a purely outcome-oriented conception of the role of parties within a deliberative system, we risk losing sight of a central tenet of deliberative democracy and of its distinctive principle of legitimacy, namely, that citizens must be able to exercise critical reflection on the grounds of democratic decisions. We argue that parties have a special responsibility in making a deliberative system meet this requirement, and that such special role can be fulfilled only if parties’ programs, values, and strategies are shaped through intra-party deliberation. On the grounds of this discussion, we define a model of intra-party deliberation that is based on the principles of mutual acceptability, pluralism, and publicity.



Author(s):  
Andrea Felicetti

This article advances one of the most important debates in recent scholarship on democratic theory: the one on deliberative systems. In the wake of the systemic turn deliberative scholars agree that not all components of a deliberative system can or even need to be deliberative. However, there is little clarity about the role of non-deliberative politics in a system and to what extent these are justifiable while we seek a more deliberative society. In this paper I first illustrate the main ideas of the systemic turn, explore the distinction between ‘deliberative’ and ‘non-deliberative’ politics and investigate the main arguments justifying non-deliberative politics. Then, I build upon these arguments to shed new light on the relationship between deliberative and non-deliberative politics. I identify three distinctive actors in deliberative systems (political institutions, empowered agents, and public space actors). Finally, I argue that deliberative democrats should adopt three different approaches (intensive, moderate, and free) in order to assess whether the use of non-deliberative politics by each of these actors is legitimate.



Politics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 026339572096029
Author(s):  
Nicole Curato

The field of deliberative democracy has long recognised the role of interruptive protests to make polities more sensitive to good reasons. But how exactly interruptive protests enhance deliberative systems remain an open question. ‘Non-deliberative acts may have deliberative consequences’ is a crucial line of argument in the deliberative systems literature, but the precise character of these consequences is yet to be spelled out. In this article, I describe three ways in which consequences of interruptive protests enhance the deliberative system. I argue that interruptive protests can redistribute (1) voice and visibility, (2) attention, and (3) deliberative agency which, in turn, can lay bare the weaknesses of a dysfunctional deliberative system. The arguments I put forward are based on interpretive case studies focusing on protest movements in the Philippines and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of record-breaking hurricanes. Overall, this paper seeks to clarify the relationship between deliberative politics and protest action, by identifying the distinctive contributions of interruptive protests in redistributing power in dysfunctional deliberative systems.



2020 ◽  
pp. 019145372097472
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont

In this essay, I address some questions and challenges brought about by the contributors to this special issue on my book ‘ Democracy without Shortcuts’. First, I clarify different aspects of my critique of deep pluralist conceptions of democracy to highlight the core incompatibilities with the participatory conception of deliberative democracy that I defend in the book. Second, I distinguish different senses of the concept of ‘blind deference’ that I use in the book to clarify several aspects and consequences of my critique of epistocratic conceptions of democracy and their search for ‘expertocratic shortcuts’. This in turn helps me briefly address the difficult question of the proper role of experts in a democracy. Third, I address potential uses of empowered minipublics that I did not discuss in the book and highlight some reasons to worry about their lack of accountability. This discussion in turn leads me to address the difficult question of which institutions are best suited to represent the transgenerational collective people who are supposed to own a constitutional project. Finally, I address some interesting suggestions for how to move the book’s project forward.





2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (3) ◽  
pp. L678-L684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuansheng Gao ◽  
Ada D. Portugal ◽  
Sewite Negash ◽  
Weilin Zhou ◽  
Lawrence D. Longo ◽  
...  

An increase in Rho kinase (ROCK) activity is implicated in chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. In the present study, we determined the role of ROCKs in cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG)-mediated pulmonary vasodilation of fetal lambs exposed to chronic hypoxia. Fourth generation pulmonary arteries were isolated from near-term fetuses (∼140 days of gestation) delivered from ewes exposed to chronic high altitude hypoxia for ∼110 days and from control ewes. In vessels constricted to endothelin-1, 8-bromoguanosine-cGMP (8-Br-cGMP) caused a smaller relaxation in chronically hypoxic (CH) vessels compared with controls. Rp-8-Br-PET-cGMPS, a PKG inhibitor, attenuated relaxation to 8-Br-cGMP in control vessels to a greater extent than in CH vessels. Y-27632, a ROCK inhibitor, significantly potentiated 8-Br-cGMP-induced relaxation of CH vessels and had only a minor effect in control vessels. The expression of PKG was increased but was not accompanied with an increase in the activity of the enzyme in CH vessels. The expression of type II ROCK and activity of ROCKs were increased in CH vessels. The phosphorylation of threonine (Thr)696 and Thr850 of the regulatory subunit MYPT1 of myosin light chain phosphatase was inhibited by 8-Br-cGMP to a lesser extent in CH vessels than in controls. The difference was eliminated by Y-27632. These results suggest that chronic hypoxia in utero attenuates PKG-mediated relaxation in pulmonary arteries, partly due to inhibition of PKG activity and partly due to enhanced ROCK activity. Increased ROCK activity may inhibit PKG action through increased phosphorylation of MYPT1 at Thr696 and Thr850.



Author(s):  
Alfred Moore

What might a deliberative politics of science look like? This chapter addresses this question by bringing together science studies and the theories and practices of deliberative democracy. This chapter begins by discussing the importance of considering the role of deliberation within scientific communities and institutions, particularly as it bears on the production of scientific judgments and decisions at the boundary between science and politics. The chapter then discusses the emergence of institutions for communicating scientific knowledge to policy-makers, public officials and citizens, which include not only expert tribunals but also the development of citizen panels, consensus conferences, and other forms of mini-publics. Finally, the chapter considers the role of “uninvited” ’ participation in science, emphasizing the role of social movements and critical civil society in both challenging and informing scientific knowledge production.



1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (4) ◽  
pp. H1586-H1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Gao ◽  
H. Zhou ◽  
J. U. Raj

Endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO) modulates fetal pulmonary vasoactivity. The role of EDNO in regulation of vasomotor tone in fetal pulmonary arteries vs. that in veins is not known. We have investigated the role of EDNO in the responses of pulmonary arteries and veins of full-term fetal lambs. Fourth-generation pulmonary arterial and venous rings were suspended in organ chambers filled with modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution (95% O2-5% CO2 at 37 degrees C), and their isometric force was measured. N omega-nitro-L-arginine had no effect on the resting tension of pulmonary arteries with endothelium but caused contraction of pulmonary veins with endothelium. The basal level of intracellular guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) of pulmonary veins with endothelium was higher than that of arteries with endothelium. In pulmonary arteries, bradykinin, but not acetylcholine, induced endothelium-dependent relaxation and an increase in cGMP content. In pulmonary veins, acetylcholine, but not bradykinin, induced endothelium-dependent relaxation and an increase in cGMP content. Agonist-induced maximal relaxation and increases in cGMP content were smaller in pulmonary arteries than in veins. All these endothelium-dependent responses were abolished by N omega-nitro-L-arginine. In tissues without endothelium, nitric oxide induced significantly less relaxation and less increase in cGMP content in pulmonary arteries than in pulmonary veins. All vessels relaxed similarly to 8-bromoguanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate. Our data suggest that the role of EDNO in modulating tone differs between pulmonary arteries and veins in full-term fetal lambs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)



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