scholarly journals Can Deliberative Democracy Favor a Flourishing Relationship Between Humans and Carnivores?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Vucetich ◽  
Jeremy T. Bruskotter ◽  
David W. Macdonald

There is considerable interest in improving participatory governance in decision-making processes for the conservation of biodiversity and management of conflicts between humans and wildlife. Among the various modes of participatory governance, deliberative democracy has received virtually no attention for decisions focused on conserving biodiversity. This is surprising given that deliberative democracy is an important branch of democratic theory and is associated with decision-making processes that have been successfully applied to a wide range of complicated decisions across diverse cultural settings. Moreover, deliberative democracy has several distinctive properties that would seem to make it well-suited for many conservation decisions. First, deliberative democracy is better-designed than other processes to handle cases where the object of conservation appears to be insufficiently valued by those who have the most detrimental impacts on its conservation. Second, deliberative democracy engenders a rich kind of representation and impartiality that is nearly impossible to achieve with participatory governance focused on managing conflicts among hyper-engaged stakeholders. Here, we review the principles of deliberative democracy, outline procedures for its application to carnivore conservation, and consider its likelihood to favor carnivore conservation.

Author(s):  
Francesca Panzironi

A network may refer to “a group of interdependent actors and the relationships among them,” or to a set of nodes linked by a web of interdependencies. The concept of networks has its origins in earlier philosophical and sociological ideas such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “general will” and Émile Durkheim’s “social facts”, which adressed social and political communities and how decisions are mediated and ideas are structured within them. Networks encompass a wide range of theoretical interpretations and critical applications across different disciplines, including governance networks, policy networks, public administration networks, social movement networks, intergovernmental networks, social networks, trade networks, computer networks, information networks, and neural networks. Governance networks have been proposed as alternative pluricentric governance models representing a new form of negotiated governance based on interdependence, negotiation and trust. Such networks differ from the competitive market regulation and state hierarchical control in three aspects: the relationship between the actors, decision-making processes, and compliance. The decision-making processes within governance networks are founded on a reflexive rationality rather than the “procedural rationality” which characterizes the competitive market regulation and the “substantial rationality” which underpins authoritative state regulation. Network theory has proved especially useful for scholars in positing the existence of loosely defined and informal webs of experts or advocates that can have a real and substantial influence on international relations discourse and policy. Two examples of the use of network theory in action are transnational advocacy networks and epistemic communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9321
Author(s):  
Olgica Grcheva ◽  
Beser Oktay Vehbi

According to the ongoing discussions of researchers, practitioners, and international legislation, the prioritization of top-down decision-making processes in public participation is questionable due to their ambiguous outcomes in various contexts associated with the management of cultural heritage. The main aim of this paper is to highlight and identify co-creation as a sustainable and significant bottom-up methodology that has a wide range of applications, especially in the domain of Cultural Heritage Management (CHM). It is presented as an alternative to the already existing, less democratic, and passive public participation decision-making processes. Examining the evolution of the terms and the processes, together with the common aspects and differences between public participation and co-creation is another goal of this paper. Based on these aims and goals, after conducting case study analyses in various contexts and comprehensive theoretical reviews of the international charters and ongoing practices associated with both key terms, “public participation” and “co-creation”, this paper introduces results that have the potential to solve the existing problems in public participation models and frameworks and successfully integrate communities into the CHM decision-making process through the implementation of the co-creation methodology.


2009 ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusan Skakic ◽  
Igor Dzincic

Both the scientific experience and the engineering practice indicate that the decision making processes in the course of solving complex designing problems require an analysis of a great number of different construction variants. These types of decision-making processes are time consuming and do not always result in the selection of an optimal solution. That is why the methods of numerical optimization are applied in a wide range of technical sciences to assist in the selection of the best solution. The first step in solving the problem by using the Finite element method is to determine the type of chair earmarked for modeling, and to determine the dimensions of the chair elements.


Author(s):  
Claudia Landwehr

Deliberative democracy is increasingly criticized as inherently elitist and technocratic, and it is blamed not only for the rise of depoliticized institutions, but also for the rise of anti-political and even populist attitudes in citizens. The chapter analyses the discussion about the depoliticizing implications and effects of deliberation and argues that, contrary to these critics, deliberation must be viewed as a genuinely political mode of interaction. A systemic perspective on deliberation allows us to critically assess the deliberative and democratic qualities of political systems and to see when and where they fail to deliver on their promises. Applied with critical intentions, the deliberative system perspective can be used to identify depoliticized policy areas and undemocratic decision-making processes. Moreover, it can feed into processes of meta-deliberation that allow for a democratization of institutional design.


Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont

This essay focuses on recent proposals to confer decisional status upon deliberative mini-publics such as citizens' juries, Deliberative Polls, and citizens' assemblies. Against such proposals, I argue that inserting deliberative mini-publics into political decision-making processes would diminish the democratic legitimacy of the political system as a whole. This negative conclusion invites a question: which political uses of mini-publics would yield genuinely democratic improvements? Drawing from a participatory conception of deliberative democracy, I propose several uses of mini-publics that could enhance the democratic legitimacy of political decision-making in current societies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail K. Hammond ◽  
Gwen E. Chapman

Purpose: To gain insight into the decision-making processes used by women when selecting dairy and dairy alternative foods, including examination of the role of bone health concerns. Methods: Semi-structured, point-of-purchase interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 30 female grocery shoppers. Constant comparative data analysis was used to generate themes on shoppers’ decision-making processes. Results: Women considered multiple issues in their dairy and dairy alternative food choice strategies: taste was most often associated with the fat and sugar content of foods; health concerns were centred on achieving an acceptable body weight and preventing osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, and women chose foods to satisfy other family members’ needs and preferences and to obtain “good food value.” Women prioritized their food choices by weighing the value of each issue, which led to a strategic process for “maximizing the value” of their food choices. The availability of a wide range of dairy and dairy alternative foods meant that in most instances, it was unnecessary for women to “trade off” one area of concern for another. Conclusions: Dietitians and nutrition educators can help women make dietary changes by helping them identify foods that they perceive as meeting a variety of needs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Argyrou ◽  
Robert J. Blomme ◽  
Tineke Lambooy ◽  
Henk Kievit

Purpose This paper aims to examine the concept of participatory governance through membership in the context of the tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece, i.e. the social cooperative enterprise (Koinsep). As such, the paper aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion regarding the participation of stakeholders in the governance of social enterprises not only as a theoretical construct prescribed by law but also by examining its implementation in practice. Design/methodology/approach The development of two in-depth case studies demonstrate whether and how the application and implementation of legal requirements regarding governance and membership permit and encourage stakeholders to participate in the decision-making processes of social enterprises. The study accordingly showcases the influence exerted by the legal regime over the social enterprise. Findings The case studies demonstrate how participatory governance is not realised in a formal manner in the organisational set-up of two social enterprises. It thereby shows how stakeholders and employees participate informally in the decision-making processes of Greek social enterprises, although legislation is conducive to formal means of participation. Research limitations/implications This study is part of a larger project involving a comparative research of tailor-made legal forms of social enterprises and corresponding organisations in three jurisdictions, i.e. Greece, Belgium, and the UK. In this study, the research was limited to the legal form of Koinsep. Practical implications This paper also contributes to the development of a better understanding of the Koinsep as a new tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece. It therefore, sheds light in its function and its participatory governance structure. Originality/value The study is an original attempt to theoretically and practically examine the subject of participatory governance in the Greek social enterprises context.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gogas ◽  
Konstantinos Papoutsis ◽  
Eftihia Nathanail

Abstract The management models pursued in logistics terminals determine their performance to a great extent. Terminals managed by public actors usually incorporate more social criteria into their decision-making processes. In addition, private management focuses on economic viability of the initiative. Decision-making is a complex process regardless the structure of management or the decision models useddue to the fact that a wide range of diverse criteria are embedded into this process. The objective of this paper it to determine a prioritization of a set of alternative options for investment projects which were suggested by port executives taking into account criteria and evaluation that have already validated by them. In order to perform the analysis a multi-criteria decision-making model was used: the Analytic Hierachy Process. The outcomes support a low-biased and efficient strategic planning through a balanced decision-making framework.


2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Smith ◽  
Corinne Wales

In the face of widespread dissatisfaction with contemporary democratic practice, there has been a growing interest in theories of deliberative democracy. However theorists have often failed to sufficiently address the question of institutional design. This paper argues that recent experiments with citizens' juries should be of interest to deliberative democrats. The practice of citizens' juries is considered in light of three deliberative democratic criteria: inclusivity, deliberation and citizenship. It is argued that citizens' juries offer important insights into how democratic deliberation could be institutionalized in contemporary political decision-making processes.


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