It’s a Long Way from Helsingborg to Porto Alegre: A Case Study in Deliberative Democracy in Late Modernity

Abstract

Since the 1990’s representative democracy has been challenged by a deliberative turn in political philosophy, reaching even into the practices of established political institutions. In Sweden, the Municipality of Helsingborg, inspired by deliberative ideals, established civic committees as a way to deal with changing patterns of civic political behavior in late modernity. One reason for this is that deliberation is assumed to revitalize representative democracy by avoiding the instrumental rational focus on self-interest. However, there are some difficulties in implementing deliberative democracy within this municipal representative democratic setting. This article will point to some problems in the Helsingborg experiment.

Keywords

Civic Influence, Representative Democracy, Late Modernity, Deliberative Democracy

How to Cite

Svensson J., (2007) “It’s a Long Way from Helsingborg to Porto Alegre: A Case Study in Deliberative Democracy in Late Modernity”, Journal of Public Deliberation 4(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.63

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Jakob Svensson (Lund University, Institute of Communication)

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