Deliberative Democracy and the Three Inputs of Governance: Expertise, Self-Interest, and Emotions

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.21.2024.94.05

Keywords:

deliberation, expertise, self-interest, emotions, deliberative democracy, deliberative system

Abstract

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.

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Author Biographies

  • Michał Zabdyr-Jamróz, Jagiellonian University

    PhD in political science, assistant professor at the Institute of Public Health of the Jagiellonian University Medical College. Collaborator of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (Brussels) and the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience. Guest lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. Specializes in: health policy analysis; health systems governance; deliberative democracy; solidarity in health; and health in all policies.

  • Elena Popa, Jagiellonian University

    PhD in philosophy, assistant professor at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University and PI of the project ‘Values, Trust and Decision Making in Public Health’. Specializes in philosophy of science (science and values, trust in science, science and democracy, pluralism) and philosophy of medicine.

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22-12-2024

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“Deliberative Democracy and the Three Inputs of Governance: Expertise, Self-Interest, and Emotions”. 2024. Politeja 21 (7(94): 101-26. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.21.2024.94.05.

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