Pragmatist Conception of Participatory Democracy¹

• Authors: Emil Višňovský
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper considers the issue of participatory democracy which has recently got high in the European integration agenda. In the history of ideas, however, it has been a controversial as well as neglected idea associated mostly with Rousseauian and Leftist models of democracy. The autor points to the key features of participatory democracy such as the idea of self-mastery. The philosophical idea of participation lies at the heart of the pragmatist conception of democracy as developed by J. Dewey. Its functioning may be illustrated by the concept of "democratic normative community". This conception of participatory democracy as a broad social rather than a narow political phenomenon provides the framework that makes it both a vital ideal and a creative task for current global as well as local efforts to bring about the sociopolitical change.

Keywords

EN

pragmatism; participatory democracy; participation; Dewey; democratic normative community

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 92-99

Dates

published

2008-06-01

online

2008-06-19

Contributors

author

Emil Višňovský

• Department of Social and Biological Communication, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19 813 64 Bratislava Slovak Republic

References

• Barber, B. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
• Cohen, J., Joel R. On Democracy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1983.
• Cunningham, F. Theories of Democracy. London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
• Dewey, J. The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882-1953. The Early Works, 1882-1898 (EW). The Middle Works, 1899-1924 (MW). The Later Works, 1925-1953 (LW). J. A. Boydston (Ed.). Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1969-1991.
• Green, J. "Participatory Democracy." Journal of Speculative Philosophy 18, 1, 2004, 60-71.
• Hayden, T. The Port Huron Statement: The Vision Call of the 1960s Revolution. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005.
• Held, D. Models of Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006.
• Macpherson, C. B. Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.
• Macpherson, C. B. The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
• Mansbridge, J. Beyond Adversary Democracy. New York: Basic Books, 1980.
• Pateman, C. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
• Singer, B. J. Pragmatism, Rights, and Democray, New York: Fordham University Press, 1999.
• Roussopoulos, D., C. G. Benello (Eds.) Participatory Democracy: Prospects for Democratizing Democracy. Montréal, New York: Black Rose Books, 2005.
• Ryan, A. John Dewey: And the High Tide of American Liberalism. New York: Norton, 1995.
• Schumpeter, J. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper and Row, 1962.
• Shapiro, I. The State of Democratic Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
• Westbrook, R. John Dewey and American Democracy. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10023-008-0008-2