Deliberation and Forgiveness in the Public Sphere

A common objection to the argument for deliberative democracy is that it cannot provide mechanisms for achieving its ideal of all-inclusiveness. This does, however, not in itself refute the deliberative ideal. In a reading of Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida’s writings on forgiveness, we argue that forgiving involves a renegotiation of our enemies and of ourselves. Hereby a renegotiation of the seemingly unbridgeable understandings of who our enemies are can be achieved. Forgiving involves a realisation that we have something in common with our foes. This opens the question: Why did our paths separate? We become puzzled and start to search for reasons. This does not mean that we have to accept ways of life that we detest. But it does mean that we need to be able to articulate counter arguments. Hereby limitations of prevailing understandings of who to include in deliberative processes can be overcome.     

Civic and Political Participation of Women and Youth in Turkey: An Examination of Perspectives of Public Authorities and NGOs

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a review of the discourses of public authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on civic and political participation of youth and women in Turkey. Drawing on policy documents and elite interviews, this article explores the role of civil society organizations in promoting civic and political organizations in traditionally marginal groups. The article is primarily concerned with unpacking dominant discourses, as produced by public documents and official statements by both civil society organizations and policy-makers. The analysis will produce an overview of their general discursive orientations and the related legal changes and policy implementations. The article then looks at the impact of these discursive formulations to the issue of participation. What is important to note is that action plans and strategies are not always implemented in a manner that is in keeping with the original intentions of policy-makers. The review of public and civil society documents highlights serious differences in focus and coverage between the groups. It also highlights limited engagement with the actual issues of civic and political participation. While youth participation is paid limited attention, women participation is mostly associated with political representation in national and local political bodies.     

微博设置大众议程及对公共领域建构的研究

主要立足于新的媒介生态环境,从微博在设置大众之议程方面所表现出的强大影响力这一事实出发,探讨微博对公共领域建构的可能性。由于传统媒体受制于单向传播的局限性,其议程设置功能相对于新媒体在逐渐减弱,而微博在设置大众议程上的功效则日益突出。议程设置作为舆论导向的第一个阶段,最终造就了公众舆论,而公共领域就是独立于政治权利之外的公共交往和公共舆论。所以说,微博所表现出的社会公器职能和权力制衡作用使得其具有重新建构哈贝马斯所言之公共领域的可能性。     

科学技术、公共领域与和谐社会

就科学技术发展来说,“和谐社会”这一概念不仅直接强化了科技对经济社会发展的积极推动作用,而且在其涉及新型工业化道路、环境保护、安全生产、网络伦理等问题方面又显现出了对科技发展的公共价值的相应反思。这意味着可以通过公共领域来把握科技与社会的协调关系问题。科技进步无疑推动了公共领域的兴起和发展,但科技发展及其生态和社会效应本身也可以作为公共问题在公共领域层面获得政治伦理考量。也就是说,在公共领域中通过建构科技公共交往机制,确保公众最大程度地参与科技发展的公共决策,进而推动权力、资本和知识精英围绕着科技与人、自然和社会之间的持续协调发展问题,提出适合公共利益的解决方案,从而促进和谐社会的逐步生成。     

Women and Sport in Scandinavia: Policy, Participation and Representation

Throughout the 20th century women have gradually gained access to sporting activities but it is only in recent decades that they have become widely represented in the decision-making bodies of sport. How can we account for this development and the weak position of women in sport? The perspective in this article is historical and three levels of explanation are considered. To what extent can the developments be explained as the result of public policy, the organization and policy of the voluntary associations and federations and by the action or predispositions of (groups of) women themselves. The article presents an overview of the state of the art in the research on women and sport in Scandinavia in the sense that new data have been collected and existing research and writings are being reviewed. By questioning central myths about sport and politics, and about the roles women play, it is shown that the role of women in sports is related bom to gaining access to the sporting activities per se and to the fora where decisions are being made, and that this access has been hampered as well as facilitated by government policies and policies of associations and interest organizations of the sports world. Government policies, however, cannot account for the remarkable changes in physical participation and democratic representation of women in sports which has taken place during the past century. The policies of the voluntary sports associations and federations are of greater importance. But the key to the understanding is found among the women themselves. So it is argued that physical performance and involvement in management and decision-making are dependent not only on formal structures and the policies of governments and interest organizations, but to a large extent upon the way in which women see themselves. This argumentation rests on the available data and a critical reading of the literature and research on women and sport in Scandinavia.     

网络公众参与:现实反思与秩序重建

网络公众参与对社会的影响是双重的,既有利于推进公共决策的科学化和民主化,又由于存在的问题和非理性趋势而给社会政治环境带来消极效应.必须对网络公众参与中存在的现实问题进行理性反思,并从社会价值预期的合理确立、网络舆论引导机制的构建、网络制度建设和网络伦理建设等几个方面促进网络公众参与沿着理性、有序、规范的轨道发展,使其真正成为弘扬文明风尚、促进社会和谐的积极动力.     

Thinking for Thousands: Emerson's Theory of Political Representation in the Public Sphere

This article develops Emerson's theory of representative democracy as it applies to a deliberative public sphere. By highlighting the democratic content of Emerson's thought, this article challenges tradition readings of Emerson that claim his thought to be elitist or antipolitical. According to Emerson, the public sphere is structured by representative individuals who are analogous to those representatives found in electoral institutions. These representatives make public the beliefs and values present in their "constituencies." They deliberate in the name of their constituencies, saying what their constituencies could and would say, were they to also directly engage in such deliberations. Representative individuals are tied to their constituencies through bonds of "sympathy and likeness." The moral consequences of a representative public sphere include the development of a sense of deliberative justice on the part of the citizenry and the reduction of the possibility of domination and oppression by ideologically oriented elites.     

Mobilization in the European Public Sphere: The Struggle Over Genetically Modified Organisms

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which supporters and opponents at the European Union (EU) level strive to mobilize the public with regard the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). To this end, it addresses two research questions: First, to which concepts do GMO opponents and supporters refer when seeking to mobilize the public? Second, do GMO opponents and supporters differ in the coherence of the concepts they use to attain public mobilization? The empirical findings show that the pro‐GMO coalition is composed of biotechnology companies as well as representatives of Argentina, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the World Trade Organization. The anti‐GMO coalition consists of environmental nongovernmental organizations and representatives from most of the EU member states. Altogether, the anti‐GMO coalition has been more coherent in the concepts they invoke in the last few years.     

公共决策中的公民参与——基于政治控制的视角

政治民主化进程的推进,加大了公共决策中公民参与的步伐和力度。在中国现代化进程中,公民参与政府决策过程存在一定的问题,也造成了一定程度的不稳定。需要从观念、技术、手段及制度等层面对公共决策中的公民参与施以政治控制,以促进公民参与的有序化。     

Assessing the Effects of Public Participation

This article presents the results of research designed to test participatory democracy assertions that high-quality public participation can affect participants' beliefs in desirable ways. It examines the relationships between exposure to quality participation and participant beliefs about the trustworthiness and responsiveness of a public agency and the value of including different viewpoints in public meetings. After participation in quality project meetings, participants were significantly more likely to believe the agency was responsive to public concerns. The results indicate that some specific aspects of quality participation are positively associated with expectations about the agency's responsiveness and performance. Positive associations were also found with tolerance for differences of opinion. These results have important implications for public administrators and theorists of participatory democracy.     

公共预算中的公民制度化参与——以浙江温岭市新河模式为例

本文介绍了浙江温岭市新河模式的形成过程和主要做法,分析了新河模式中公民制度化参与财政预算的途径和机制,探讨了新河模式在扩大公共参与等方面的效果、作用和意义,解剖了新河模式中财政预算的公众制度化参与过程可能出现的问题和误区,指出了新河模式存在的制度条件及其示范价值。最后,从协商民主与代议民主相结合的理论视角,对公共预算中公民制度化参与的新河模式进行了分析总结。     

“空心村”整治规划中的公众参与

公众参与不仅是保证"空心村"整治规划科学性的重要依据,而且是维护农民利益的必要前提。在"空心村"整治规划中,公众参与还存在着参与积极性不高、制度供给不足、信息公开渠道不畅、参与环节过少、参与方式不合理等问题。只有从营造公众参与的氛围、健全公众参与的制度和法律保障、完善信息公开渠道、提高公众参与方式的科学性等方面努力,才能充分调动公众参与"空心村"整治规划的积极性,从而真正实现"空心村"整治规划的目的。     

Mapping Public Participation in Policy Choices

In an era of democratic discontent, more and better participation in policy making has become a standard expectation. Yet it is rarely clear what counts as participation, and how the many practices loosely bundled under the label should be understood. This paper has a modest undergrowth‐clearing objective: to examine assumptions behind competing typologies of participation, and to propose a classification framework less laden by idealist notions of democracy.