Description
Book SynopsisDemocratic 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.
Trade ReviewDannica 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 café, 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
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Democratic Legitimacy, Democratic Crises, Everyday (Political) Practice Chapter 1. Bridging the Gap between Principles and Institutions: Meta-Theoretical and Methodological Considerations Chapter 2. Procedure, Substance, Democratic Legitimacy: A Framework for the Debate Chapter 3. Two Forms of Proceduralism: Rawls’s and Habermas’s Theories of Democratic Legitimacy Chapter 4. Normative Proceduralism and Its Limitations in ‘Post-Metaphysical’ Political Theory Chapter 5. Radical Proceduralist Ideals: A Discursive Account Chapter 6. Institutional Designs as Conversation Starter: Ask Citizens, not Philosophers! Chapter 7. Conclusion: Democratic Institutions for Radical Proceduralists and Other Citizens
