Deliberative Democracy ― Issues and Cases

Deliberative democracy is the darling of democratic theory and political theory more generally, and generates international interest. In this book, a number of leading democratic theorists address the key issues that surround the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. They outline the problems faced by deliberative democracy in the context of the available empirical evidence, survey potential solutions and put forward new and innovative ideas to resolve these issues. Each chapter takes a key issue as its focus, looking at issues such as conflict, inequality, pluralism, participation and the public sphere.

Stephen Elstub is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of the West of Scotland.

Peter McLaverty is Reader in Public Policy at the Robert Gordon University. He is author of The Politics of Empowerment? (Dartmouth Publishing Co., 1996) and editor of Public Participation and Innovations in Community Governance (Ashgate, 2002).