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15 - Deliberation

from Part II - Modalities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2025

Richard Bellamy
Affiliation:
University College London
Jeff King
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

This paper discusses the various ways that deliberative democratic theory intervenes in debates about constitutional theory. After a brief introduction, Section II begins with foundational views that employ deliberation as a framework to reconstruct constitutionalism as such. In Section III I canvas theories that delineating how we ought to be deliberating about constitutions within established liberal democratic orders. This moves the discussion from a constituent function of deliberation to a constituted function and role. This section pays special attention to public reason arguments. The question of how we should be deliberating about constitutional essentials naturally leads to the question of who should be deliberating about constitutional essentials in Section IV. There are three natural answers to this question: courts, legislatures, and citizens. Within deliberative democracy theory the answer is often a combination of these three but there are important variations. In Section V, I take a deeper dive into citizen participation in deliberative constitutionalism. I argue that deliberative constitutionalism offers a view of democratic constitutionalism that differs from political and popular constitutionalism both of which are focused on reducing the power of courts vis-à-vis legislative institutions rather than enhancing the participatory power of citizens.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Recommended Reading

Ackerman, B. (1991). We the People: Foundations, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Arato, A. (2016). Post Sovereign Constitution Making: Learning and Legitimacy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bächtiger, A., Dryzek, J., Mansbridge, J. & Warren, M., eds. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Contiades, X. & Fotiadou, A. eds. (2017). Participatory Constitutional Change: The People as Amenders of the Constitution, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chambers, S. (2019). Democracy and constitutional reform: Deliberative versus populist constitutionalism. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 45 (9–10), 11161131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habermas, J. (1996). Between Facts and Norms. Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Translated by William Rehg, Cambridge: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habermas, J. (2001). Constitutional democracy: A paradoxical union of contradictory principles? Political Theory, 29 (6), 766781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lafont, C. (2020). Democracy without Shortcuts: A Participatory Conception of Deliberative Democracy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Levy, R., Kong, H., Orr, G., & King, J., eds. (2018). The Cambridge Handbook of Deliberative Constitutionalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, C. H. (2013). Constitutional Courts and Deliberative Democracy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neblo, M. (2007). Family disputes: Diversity in defining and measuring deliberation. Swiss Political Science Review, 13 (4), 527557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Rawls, J. (2005). Political Liberalism. Expanded Edition, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Reuchamps, M. & Suiter, J., eds. (2016). Constitutional Deliberative Democracy in Europe, Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
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  • Deliberation
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.018
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  • Deliberation
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.018
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Deliberation
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.018
Available formats
×