Deliberative Democracy Essay

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In this essay I will be analyzing the role of diversity in democracy, I will start with direct and representative democracy’s, then continue onto the primary focus of this essay which will be the analysis of an essay by Joshua Cohen, I will conclude by raising some of my issues with deliberative democracy and the solutions required to allow the maximum amount of diversity.
In order to discuss how we may represent diversity in democracy, we must first make some distinctions between the different types of democracy. Democracy is any system of government that is controlled by the people. The first form of democracy was direct democracy, this was when citizens would gather and directly vote on their preferred legislation, this method fell out of
By the end of the section he has established three main features of his a deliberative democracy, and why Rawls theory is inadequate at providing an explanation as to why these three features would be desirable under the ideal of a fair system of cooperation. He proceeds to the second section of his essay where he actually begins to formulate his ideal of a deliberative democracy. The deliberative democracy is basically a system in which citizens are all given equal value and allowed to argue in favor of their preferred society. The institutions of this society are only recognized insofar as they are enabling the public deliberation, and citizens have a commitment to the resolution of issues via collective choosing through public reasoning. He formally conceptualizes his deliberative democracy as having five main features (Cohen, 1997,
This procedure has three primary aspects, that it be free, that it be reasoned and finally, that we reach a consensus. We need to be able to decide on an agenda, propose alternate solutions to problems within the agenda, support those solutions with reason, and then conclude by settling on the alternative. Outcomes are democratically legitimate only if they are free, reasoned and consensual. This is the principle captured by an ideal deliberative procedure.
The first general aspect is that deliberation must be free, and it can only be free while satisfying two criteria. Firstly, participants are bound by the results of the deliberation, and their judgment is unimpeded by the authority of prior authority or requirements. Secondly, participants must have the ability to act in accordance with any result, as the fact that the result was arrived at via deliberation is sufficient reason to comply with it (Cohen, 1997,

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