Deliberative Democracy and the Three Inputs of Governance: Expertise, Self-Interest, and Emotions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.21.2024.94.05Keywords:
deliberation, expertise, self-interest, emotions, deliberative democracy, deliberative systemAbstract
The idea of evidence-based policy-making is in crisis. On the one hand, it is being disrupted by agonistic partisan polarization and post-truth politics. On the other hand, despite some nostalgia for technocracy, converging trends in political science and theory downplay the authoritative role of expertise, while emotions and self-interest receive positive reappraisals. This is most clearly visible in the evolution of deliberative democratic theory. In order to synthesize these developments, we present an integrated framework of the three inputs of governance: expertise, self-interest and emotions. We discuss and systematize nondeliberative and deliberative ways of considering these three inputs. The latter include: meaningful and contextualized representation of expertise; deliberative negotiation on parties’ self-interests; as well as emotional testimonies, storytelling, bridging rhetoric etc. The framework highlights the composite nature of political discourse (as an interplay between the three inputs), serving as a comprehensive tool for policy analysis and a guide for institutional design.
Downloads
References
Afsahi A., “The Role of Self-Interest in Deliberation: A Theory of Deliberative Capital,” Political Studies, vol. 70, no. 3 (2022), pp. 701-718, https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321720981491. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321720981491
Bandes S.A., “Emotion and Deliberation: The Autonomous Citizen in the Social World,” in J.E. Fleming (ed.), Passions and Emotions, New York 2013, pp. 189-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814760147.003.0006
Bessette J.M., “Deliberative Democracy: The Majority Principle in Republican Government,” in R.A. Goldwin, W.A. Schambra (eds), How Democratic Is the Constitution?, Washington, D.C. 1980, pp. 102-116.
Billingham P., “Sharing Reasons and Emotions in a Non-Ideal Discursive System,” Politics, Philosophy & Economics, vol. 22, no. 3 (2023), pp. 294-314, https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X231167594. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X231167594
Boswell J., “What Makes Evidence-Based Policy Making Such a Useful Myth? The Case of NICE Guidance on Bariatric Surgery in the United Kingdom,” Governance, vol. 31, no. 2 (2018), pp. 199-214, https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12285
Brennan J., Against Democracy, Princeton 2016, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc77mcz. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400882939
Buse K., Mays N., Walt G., Making Health Policy, Maidenhead 2012.
Collingridge D., Reeve C., Science Speaks to Power: The Role of Experts in Policymaking, London 1986.
Damasio A., Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain, New York 2005.
Deonna J., Teroni F., “Why Are Emotions Epistemically Indispensable?,” Inquiry, vol. 68, no. 1 (2022), pp. 91-113, https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2022.2126147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2022.2126147
Dobrow M.J., Goel V., Lemieux-Charles L., Black N.A., “The Impact of Context on Evidence Utilization: A Framework for Expert Groups Developing Health Policy Recommendations,” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 63, no. 7 (2006), pp. 1811-1824, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.04.020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.04.020
Douglas H.E., Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal, Pittsburgh 2009, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt6wrc78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt6wrc78
Druckman J.N., Nelson K.R., “Framing and Deliberation: How Citizens’ Conversations Limit Elite Influence,” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 47, no. 4 (2003), pp. 729-745, https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5907.00051. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5907.00051
Druckman J.N., Peterson E., Slothuus R., “How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation,” American Political Science Review, vol. 107, no. 1 (2013), pp. 57-79, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055412000500. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055412000500
Dryzek J.S., Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations, New York 2002, https://doi.org/10.1093/019925043X.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/019925043X.001.0001
Dryzek J.S., “Rhetoric in Democracy: A Systemic Appreciation,” Political Theory, vol. 38, no. 3 (2010), pp. 319-339, https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591709359596. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591709359596
Elster J., Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality, Cambridge 1983. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171694
Feinberg M., Willer R., “From Gulf to Bridge: When Do Moral Arguments Facilitate Political Influence?,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 41, no. 12 (2015), pp. 1665-1681, https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215607842. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215607842
Feynman R.P., “Cargo Cult Science. Some Remarks on Science, Pseudoscience, and Learning How to Not Fool Yourself,” Caltech’s Commencement Address, 1974, at https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm, 26 February 2025.
Fischer F., Democracy and Expertise: Reorienting Policy Inquiry, New York 2009, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282838.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282838.001.0001
Forester J., Stitzel D., “The Beyond Neutrality: Possibilities of Activist Mediation in Public Sector Conflicts,” Negotiation Journal, vol. 5, no. 3 (1989), pp. 251-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.1989.tb00521.x
Fuerstein M., “Democratic Consensus as an Essential Byproduct,” Journal of Political Philosophy, vol. 22, no. 3 (2014), pp. 282-301, https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12040. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12040
Goodin R.E., “Democratic Deliberation Within,” Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol. 29, no. 1 (2000), pp. 81-109, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2000.00081.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2000.00081.x
Gorski D., “The Cochrane Mask Fiasco: How the Evidence-Based Medicine Paradigm Can Produce Misleading Results,” Science-Based Medicine, 13 March 2023, at https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cochrane-mask-fiasco-how-the-evidence-based-medicine-paradigm-can-produce-misleading-results/, 20 May 2023.
Greenhalgh T., Russell J., “Evidence-Based Policymaking: A Critique,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 52, no. 2 (2009), pp. 304-318, https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0085. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0085
Greenwood T., “The Myth of Scientific Incompetence of Regulatory Agencies,” Science, Technology, and Human Values, vol. 9, no. 1 (1984), pp. 83-96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016224398400900110
Guhin J., “A Rational Nation Ruled by Science Would Be a Terrible Idea,” New Scientist, 6 July 2016, at https://www.newscientist.com/article/2096315-a-rational-nation-ruled-by-science-would-be-a-terrible-idea/, 30 March 2017.
Gutmann A., Thompson D.F., The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It, Princeton 2012.
Habermas J., “Morality and Ethical Life: Does Hegel’s Critique of Kant Apply to Discourse Ethics?,” Northwestern University Law Review, vol. 83 (1988), pp. 38-53.
Habermas J., “Religion in the Public Sphere,” European Journal of Philosophy, vol. 14, no. 1 (2006), pp. 1-25, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0378.2006.00241.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0378.2006.00241.x
Haidt J., “The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgment,” Psychological Review, vol. 108, no. 4 (2001), pp. 814-834, https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.4.814. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-295X.108.4.814
Hajer M.A., Wagenaar H., “Introduction,” in M.A. Hajer, H. Wagenaar (eds), Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Cambridge 2003, pp. 1-30, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490934.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490934.002
Hajer M.A., Authoritative Governance: Policy Making in the Age of Mediatization, Oxford 2009, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281671.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281671.001.0001
Hajer M.A., Laws D., Versteeg W., “Authority Through Deliberative Governance: The British Food Standards Agency in Action,” in M.A. Hajer (ed.), Authoritative Governance: Policy Making in the Age of Mediatization, Oxford 2009, pp. 125-169, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281671.003.0006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281671.003.0006
Hajer M.A., Wagenaar H. (eds), Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Cambridge 2003, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490934. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490934
Hertzberg B.R., Chains of Persuasion: A Framework for Religion in Democracy, New York 2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190883041.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190883041.001.0001
Holst C., Molander A., “Epistemic Democracy and the Accountability of Experts,” in C. Holst (ed.), Expertise and Democracy, Oslo 2014, pp. 13-36.
Kahan D.M., “Ideology, Motivated Reasoning, and Cognitive Reflection,” Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 8, no. 4 (2013), pp. 407-424, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500005271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500005271
Kahan D.M., Jenkins-Smith H., Braman D., “Cultural Cognition of Scientific Consensus,”
Journal of Risk Research, vol. 14, no. 2 (2011), pp. 147-174, https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2010.511246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2010.511246
Krause S.R., Civil Passions: Moral Sentiment and Democratic Deliberation, Princeton 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837281
Landwehr C., Holzinger K., “Institutional Determinants of Deliberative Interaction,” European Political Science Review, vol. 2, no. 3 (2010), pp. 373-400, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773910000226. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773910000226
Latour B., Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy, Cambridge 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674039964
Lavis J., Davies H., Oxman A., Denis J.-L., Golden-Biddle K., Ferlie E., “Towards Systematic Reviews that Inform Health Care Management and Policy-Making,” Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, vol. 10, no. 1 (2005), pp. 35-48, https://doi.org/10.1258/1355819054308549. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1258/1355819054308549
Lepoutre M., Democratic Speech in Divided Times, New York 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198869757.001.0001
Mackie G., “Does Democratic Deliberation Change Minds?,” Politics, Philosophy and Economics, vol. 5, no. 3 (2006), pp. 279-303, https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594x06068301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X06068301
Maguire S., “Discourse and Adoption of Innovations: A Study of HIV/AIDS Treatments,” Health Care Management Review, vol. 27, no. 3 (2002), pp. 74-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00004010-200207000-00008
Mansbridge J.J., “A Minimalist Definition of Deliberation,” in P. Heller, V. Rao (eds), Deliberation and Development: Rethinking the Role of Voice and Collective Action in Unequal Societies, Washington, D.C. 2015, pp. 27-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0501-1_ch2
Mansbridge J.J., “Everyday Talk in the Deliberative System,” in S. Macedo (ed.), Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement, Oxford 1999, pp. 211-239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195131918.003.0016
Mansbridge J.J., Bohman J., Chambers S., Christiano Th., Fung A., Parkinson J., Thompson D.F., Warren M.E., “A Systemic Approach to Deliberative Democracy,” in J. Parkinson, J. Mansbridge (eds), Deliberative Systems: Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale, New York 2012, pp. 1-26, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139178914.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139178914.002
Mansbridge J., Bohman J., Chambers S., Estlund D., Føllesdal A., Fung A., Lafont C., Manin B., Luis M.J., “The Place of Self-Interest and the Role of Power in Deliberative Democracy,” Journal of Political Philosophy, vol. 18, no. 1 (2010), pp. 64-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2009.00344.x
Marmot M.G., “Evidence Based Policy or Policy Based Evidence?,” British Medical Journal, vol. 328 (2004), pp. 906-907, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7445.906. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7445.906
Mazur-Bubak M., “A Few Problems with Mouffe’s Agonistic Political Theory,” Polish Political Science Yearbook, vol. 48, no. 2 (2019), pp. 307-318, https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2019207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2019207
McCaughey D., Bruning N.S., “Rationality versus Reality: The Challenges of Evidence-Based Decision Making for Health Policy Makers,” Implementation Science, vol. 5, no. 39 (2010), pp. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-39
Menkel-Meadow C., “Scaling Up Deliberative Democracy as Dispute Resolution in Healthcare Reform: A Work in Progress,” Law and Contemporary Problems, vol. 74, no. 3 (2011), pp. 1-30.
Mouffe C., The Return of the Political, London–New York 1993.
Oreskes N., Conway E.M., Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Climate Change, New York 2011.
Owen D., Smith G., “Survey Article: Deliberation, Democracy, and the Systemic Turn,” Journal of Political Philosophy, vol. 23, no. 2 (2015), pp. 213-234, https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12054. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12054
Piaget J., Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood, New York 1951, https://doi.org/10.4324/ 9781315009698.
Pielke R.A. Jr, The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics, New York 2007, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511818110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511818110
“Rationalization,” APA Dictionary of Psychology, 19 April 2018, at https://dictionary.apa.org/rationalization, 26 September 2023.
Rushefsky M.E., Making Cancer Policy, Albany 1986.
Salter L., Levy E., Leiss W., Mandated Science: Science and Scientists in the Making of Standards, Dordrecht–Boston–London 1988.
Sanders L.M., “Against Deliberation,” Political Theory, vol. 25, no. 3 (1997), pp. 347-376, https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591797025003002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591797025003002
Sarewitz D., “Science and Environmental Policy: An Excess of Objectivity,” in R. Frodeman, V.R. Baker (eds), Earth Matters: The Earth Sciences, Philosophy, and the Claims of Community, Prentice-Hall 2000, pp. 79-98.
Schopenhauer A., The Art of Always Being Right, London 2005.
Steenbergen M.R., Bächtiger A., Spörndli M., Steiner J., “Measuring Political Deliberation: A Discourse Quality Index,” Comparative European Politics, vol. 1 (2003), pp. 21-48, https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110002
Tetlock Ph.E., Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?, Princeton 2005.
Wagner A., “Shale Gas: Energy Innovation in a (Non-)Knowledge Society: A Press Discourse Analysis,” Science and Public Policy, vol. 42, no. 2 (2015), pp. 273-286, https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scu050. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scu050
Warren M., Mansbridge J., “Deliberative Negotiation,” in J.J. Mansbridge, C.J. Martin (eds), Negotiating Agreement in Politics, Washington, D.C. 2013, pp. 86-120.
Weiss C.H., “Knowledge Creep and Decision Accretion,” Science Communication, vol. 1, no. 3 (1980), pp. 381-404, https://doi.org/10.1177/107554708000100303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/107554708000100303
Young I.M., “Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy,” in S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, Princeton 1996, pp. 120-135, https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691234168-007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691234168-007
Young I.M., Inclusion and Democracy, Oxford 2002, https://doi.org/10.1093/0198297556.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0198297556.001.0001
Zabdyr-Jamróz M., “‘All They Want Is Money!’ The Deliberative Theory Approach to the Inclusion of Nurses’ Self-Interests in the 2016 Strike in the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw,” Social Theory & Health, vol. 19 (2021), pp. 68-91, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-019-00123-y. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-019-00123-y
Zabdyr-Jamróz M., Wszechstronniczość. O deliberacji w polityce zdrowotnej z uwzględnieniem emocji, interesów własnych i wiedzy eksperckiej, Kraków 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/K7514.33/e/23.23.18373
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
