Overview
Democratic politics depend on citizen participation, trust and support. While this support in democratic institutions and political elites is declining, public and scholarly discourse frequently suggests counteracting the challenge by strengthening the role of experts in political decision-making, yet such reform proposals convey a paternalistic threat that contravenes fundamental democratic principles. Proposing an alternative, 'radical proceduralist' understanding of democratic legitimacy and institutional reform, Radical Proceduralism argues that there is no such thing as 'political truth' or 'correctness' that could justify experts wielding political power. Rather, the only criterion for democratic legitimacy is the fair and equal inclusion of all affected citizens. Radical Proceduralism bridges the gap between political philosophy and practical institutional experimentation asking us to bring citizens back in and to engage them in a dialogue about 'the rules of the democratic game' and proposing institutional devices that figure as 'conversation starters' and facilitate such dialogues.
Full Product Details
Author: Dannica Fleuß (Helmut Schmidt University, Germany)
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Imprint: Emerald Publishing Limited
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.60cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.432kg
ISBN: 9781800437210
ISBN 10: 1800437218
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 30 June 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
Dannica Fleuss calls on us to resist the lure of epistocracy, in favour of a radical proceduralism that trusts in the collective capacity of citizens to govern their societies. In this powerful and provocative book, she reinvigorates democratic theory and restores faith in democratic politics. -- William Smith, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Dannica Fleuss attacks her subject with a philosophical precision that is grounded in an awareness of the importance of context. But rather than meekly giving in to context and saying 'it depends', she boldly grasps the proceduralist horn of the democratic legitimacy dilemma. Her arguments will be important for anyone wanting to do serious, thoughtful work on legitimacy, democracy and expertise. -- John Parkinson, Maastricht University What is the role of the political theorist? Dannica Fleuss asks. The answer, given through a detailed and comprehensive explanation of radical proceduralism (an impressive collation and analysis of literature that stands on its own as an original contribution), is to embrace humility, to understand oneself as an equal member of one's local community(ies), and to ultimately deliver the role of the interpreter, of guild master, to one or more procedures of democracy. It is not for the theorist to control the substance of a community's focus but rather to 'start and facilitate open ended conversations [...] not to deliver their conclusion'. Fleuss offers political theorists a way out of the cloister, a thoroughly justified and well-argued position for getting one's hands dirty, a professional destiny that sees one's place of work as not the lecture theatre, nor cluttered desk, but rather the street, the dining table, the cafe, the online forum, and countless other spaces and places where so many of us meet, greet, talk and continue figuring out our place in the world and what we want from this life. -- Jean-Paul Gagnon, University of Canberra
Author Information
Dannica Fleuß is a postdoctoral research fellow and lecturer in political theory at Helmut Schmidt University (Hamburg) and a research associate at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance (University of Canberra). She is also a co-convenor of the Political Studies Association's Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Specialist Group and a member of the Switzerland-based DemocracyNet.
