POLITICAL THEORY SEMINAR
Fall 2003
DELIBERATION AND ITS LIMITS
Bernard Manin – Dimitri Landa
The following volumes, large portions of which are assigned, have been ordered as required through the NYU Bookstore:
James Bohman and William Rehg, eds., Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.
Cass Sunstein, Republic.com. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Readings that are not contained in these volumes will be made available for copying.
We have also ordered as recommended the following two edited volumes:
Stephen Macedo, ed., Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Jon Elster, ed., Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
These volumes contain a sample of recent contributions to the debates about deliberation and offer a useful further guide to the growing literature on deliberation.
Preliminary Schedule of Topics and Readings:
1. Deliberation and Democracy: Introduction. What is deliberative democracy?
Recommended:
Carlos Nino, “Alternative Conceptions of Democracy,” in C. Nino, The Constitution of Deliberative Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, pp. 67-106.
Jurgen Habermas, “Three Normative Models of Democracy,” in J. Habermas, The Inclusion of the Other. Cambridge: MIT Press 1999.
Jon Elster, “The Market and the Forum: Three Varieties of Political Theory,” in Bohman, J., Rehg, W., (eds.), Deliberative Democracy, MIT Press, 1997, pp. 3-34.
2. Epistemic Foundation of Democracy: Condorcet's Jury Theorem, Voting and Deliberation
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, Book 2, Chs.1-4; Book 4, Chs.1, 2.
Bernard Grofman and Scott L. Feld, “Rousseau’s General Will: A Condorcetian Perspective.” American Political Science Review, Vol. 82, No. 2 (Jun., 1988), pp. 567-76.
David M. Estlund, Jeremy Waldron, Bernard Grofman and Scott L. Feld, “Democratic Theory and the Public Interest: Condorcet and Rousseau Revisited. The American Political Science Review, Vol. 83, No. 4. (Dec.,1989), pp. 1317-1340.
David Estlund, “Beyond Fairness and Deliberation: The Epistemic Dimension of Democratic Authority,” in Bohman and Rehg, (eds.), Deliberative Democracy, pp. 173-204.
Recommended:
Robert E. Goodin, “The Paradox of Persisting Opposition.” Politics, Philosophy & Economics, February 2002, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 109-146.
3. Deliberation and the General Will
Bernard Manin, “On Legitimacy and Political Deliberation.” Political Theory Vol. 15, No. 3 (Aug., 1987), pp. 338-368.
Jurgen Habermas, “Popular Sovereignty as Procedure,” in Bohman and Rehg, (eds.), Deliberative Democracy pp. 35-66.
Joshua Cohen, “Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy,” in Bohman and Rehg, (eds.) Deliberative Democracy, pp. 67-92.
4. Cognitivism and Reasons
T. M. Scanlon, What We Owe To Each Other. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998, Chapters 1, 5.
Steven Lukes, “Making Sense of Moral Conflict,” in Nancy L. Rosenblum, ed., Liberalism and the Moral Life. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989, pp. 127-42.
Recommended:
Gerald F. Gaus, Justificatory Liberalism: An Essay on Epistemology and Political Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chs. 1-4.
Charles Larmore, “Pluralism and Reasonable Disagreement,” in Larmore, The Morals of Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 152-74.
5. Public Reason and Alternative Theories
John Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason,” in Rawls, Political Liberalism. Columbia University Press, 1993, pp. 212-54.
John Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited,” in J. Rawls, Collected Papers, ed. by S. Freeman, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 573-615.
Recommended:
Cass R. Sunstein, “Incompletely Theorized Agreements.” in Sunstein, Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 35-61.
6. Constraints on Deliberation
Stephen Holmes, “Gag Rules or the Politics of Omission,” in Jon Elster and Rune Slagstad, (eds.), Constitutionalism and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 19-58.
Seyla Benhabib, “Toward a Deliberative Model of Democratic Legitimacy,” in Benhabib, (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 67-94.
J. Donald Moon, “From Contract to Discourse,” in Moon, Constructing Communities: Moral Pluralism and Tragic Conflicts. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 74-97.
7. Deliberation and Decision-making: Decisionism vs. Fallibilism
Carl Schmitt, “On the Contradiction Between Parliamentarism and Democracy,” in C. Schmitt, Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy, trans. Ellen Kennedy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990, pp. 1-17.
John Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative government, ch.5
8. Skepticism and Epistemic Abstinence
Thomas Nagel, “Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy.” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1987, pp. 215-40.
Brian Barry, “Justifying Impartial Justice,” in Barry, Justice as Impartiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 160-88.
Recommended:
Joseph Raz, “Facing Diversity: The Case of Epistemic Abstinence.” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1990, pp. 3-46.
9. How Much Deliberation? Epistemic Foundations Revisited
Ian Shapiro, “Optimal Deliberation?” Journal of Political Philosophy, June 2002, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 196-211.
Dimitri Landa, Deliberation and Disagreement, NYU Mimeo, Chapters 3 and 4.
Recommended:
Ian Shapiro, "Enough of deliberation: politics is about interest and power", in S. Macedo, (ed.), Deliberative Politics, Oxford U.P., 1999, pp. 28-38
10. Deliberation and Strategic Action
David Austen-Smith and Timothy Feddersen, “Deliberation and Voting Rules,” Northwestern University Mimeo, 2002-3.
Catherine Hafer and Dimitri Landa, “Deliberation as Self-Discovery.” NYU Mimeo, 2003.
Recommended:
James D. Fearon, “Deliberation as Discussion,” in Jon Elster, (ed.), Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998, pp. 44-68.
11. Deliberation in Practice. Complications I: the Question of Diversity
Cass Sunstein, Republic.com. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
TBD
12. Deliberation in Practice. Complications II: Social and Cultural Inequalities
M. I. Finley, “Athenian Demagogues,” in Finley, Democracy Ancient and Modern, rev. ed. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1985, pp. 38-75.
Lynn Sanders, “Against Deliberation.” Political Theory, Vol. 25, No. 3. (Jun., 1997), pp. 347-376.
Timur Kuran, Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995, Chs. TBD
Recommended:
Diego Gambetta, “’Claro!’: An Essay on Discursive Machismo,” in Jon Elster, (ed.), Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998, pp. 19-43.
13. Implementing Deliberation: Deliberative Polls and Public Consultation
Bruce Ackerman and James S. Fishkin, “Deliberation Day.” Journal of Political Philosophy, June 2002, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 129-152.
“Executive Summary.” Center for Deliberative Polling, University of Texas at Austin, October 2002.
Martin Shapiro, “The Giving Reasons Requirement.” University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1992.
John Ferejohn and Pasquale Pasquino, “Deliberative Institutions.” NYU Mimeo.
Recommended:
Jon Pierre, “Public Consultation and Citizen Participation: Dilemmas of Policy Advice,” in B.G. Peters, D.J. Savoie, (eds.), Taking Stock: Assessing Public Sector Reforms. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998, pp. 137-168.
“Deliberative Process,” in Are Hung Juries a Problem? National Center for State Courts, 2002, pp. 63-74.