“‘Deliberative democracy’ overcomes the participatory deficit that liberal democracy is perceived to have.” Discuss. Joe Ansley – PO238 Systems of liberal democracy are widely criticised for producing and indeed encouraging a citizenry of largely passive, inactive and powerless individuals. Such criticisms can generally be attributed to the principles that liberal democracies prioritise and the values which they promote and inspire. The values in question -- ones that are central to the doctrine of liberal democracy and to liberal principles -- consist of privatism, individualism, pluralism and elitism. Remaining consistent with this set of values and principles, so as not to infringe on individual liberty, such systems do not require or even encourage citizen participation in the political sphere. Instead, they limit the citizen’s role to abiding by laws and voting in elections - which, as practiced, hand the power that they have to a small group of representatives. This essay seeks to justify the claim that deliberative forms of democracy have the ability to overcome the participatory deficit present in liberal systems. It will do so by focusing extensively on the inherent deliberative principles that counteract previously noted values held by liberal systems which disincentivize and indeed prevent public participation. These are, namely, the deliberative conception of democratic legitimacy, and their starkly different ideas of citizenship. In qualifying a decision as legitimate as a result of its formation and defining citizenship in terms of individuals’ ability to discuss and influence public policy, deliberative models prove themselves to be capable of creating a highly active, aware, and educated public. Accordingly, this essay will conclude that deliberative democracy can overcome the participatory deficit present in liberal
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