Question

"The authors of the course textbook, American Government and Politics, describe deliberation as 'reasoning on the merits of public policy, searching for the public interest or common good.' What are three features of American government that contribute to deliberative democracy?"

Answer 1

Deliberation in democratic institutions yields outcomes that protect the public or the common good by argument rather than by political force. Deliberative democracy is not based on a rivalry between competing interests, but on an exchange of facts and justifications that promotes a range of public benefit perspectives. Ultimately, voters should be influenced by the strength of the better argument rather than by private interests, prejudices, or opinions that their fellow deliberators do not publicly explain.

First, issues should be public within a democracy, and should be discussed openly.

Furthermore, procedures must be transparent and open to public scrutiny within the democratic institutions.

Finally, in addition to providing information, people need to ensure that a collective form of justification is used to base political decisions, rather than relying on transcendent sources of authority that are only open to a segment of citizenship, such as revealed religion. The public nature of the reasons used to justify political decisions yields conclusions that are fair and rational but subject to scrutiny if new evidence or further debates are needed