Integrated Deliberation: Reconciling Civil Society's Dual Role in Deliberative Democracy

Among the growing literature on deliberative democracy there are two diverging streams of thought, each implying a different role for civil society. Micro deliberative theorists, with their focus on the procedural conditions for structured fora, encourage civil society to engage in collaborative practices, usually with the state. In contrast, macro deliberative democrats, who are interested in the messy and informal deliberation in the public sphere, advocate that civil society should work discursively outside and against the state. This article explores some of the implications of these conflicting roles, taking into account two observations from deliberative practice: first, that all micro deliberative fora are surrounded and impacted by their macro discursive context, and second, that some actors in civil society are more willing and capable of deliberating than others. To conceive of deliberative democracy as an entirely micro or macro enterprise is not only unrealistic, but potentially exclusive. The article advocates for a more viable and inclusive deliberative theory; one that integrates all kinds of deliberation from the micro to the macro. To this end, public deliberation is best conceptualised as an activity occurring in a range of discursive spheres that collectively engage a diversity of civil society actors.     

When Does Deliberation Begin? Internal Reflection versus Public Discussion in Deliberative Democracy

Political deliberation involves both internal reflection and public discussion. The former might be far more important than implied by deliberative democrats' heavy emphasis on the discursive component. Analysis of the deliberations of a citizen's jury on an Australian environmental issue shows jurors' attitudes changing more in response to the 'information' phase of the jury proceedings, involving a large degree of 'deliberation within', than during the formal 'discussion' phase. Various ways can be imagined for evoking internal reflection of that sort, even in mass-political settings.     

Development and Prospects of Deliberative Democracy in China: The Dimensions of Deliberative Capacity Building

Since the landmark volume The Search for Deliberative Democracy in China (Leib and He eds. 2006), a growing number of theoretical and empirical studies in the context of China have advanced our knowledge of deliberative democracy in comparative settings. This paper aims to discuss the recent development and prospects of deliberative democracy in China, with particular focus on the approach of a deliberative system that has not been adequately addressed in the context of China. This paper proposes an analytical framework for the concept of deliberative capacity building in the context of contemporary China. The paper analyses three dimensions of deliberative capacity building: social capacity, institutional capacity; and participatory capacity of a deliberative system. The three dimensions lay particular emphasis on the public sphere, empowered space, and deliberative actors respectively. The multi-dimensional framework considers deliberative capacity building as a process by which the three dimensions synergize and evolve with each other to produce a functional deliberative system incorporating isolated deliberative practices. The multi-dimensional analyses suggest that deliberative capacity building is critical to democratization in China, as it produces a stronger public sphere, more effective government responsiveness and improved participatory competence.     

多元与共识:中国协商民主的发展趋势

1978年以来的改革开放使中国社会发生了深刻的变化，经济体制转轨和现代化进程的推进也促使中国社会结构发生着巨大的变迁。因此，中国协商民主的发展趋势首先是协商主体的多元化，新的协商主体不断产生和加入协商过程。其次是协商的方式和途径也越来越多，多元化的协商可以更加合理和公平的建立共识，进一步使得国家政策的制定科学化、规范化。     

村落选举、公共性生产与合法性——以陕西Y村为例

转型期中国乡村基层村庄民主选举备受学界关注,学界分别从乡村治理、制度变迁、政治民主等角度考察这一问题。然而这些考察忽略了一个重要维度:乡村公共性主题。笔者认为这一主题才是乡村选举的实质和意涵。通过Y村选举及修路等涉及村落公共事务的个案,笔者考察当前村落选举与村庄公共性生产、村落公意和共识的关系,文章认为当前基层乡村依然延续了差序式的公共性生产模式。这种公共性生产模式与通过选举运作生产公共性的模式之间具有内在张力,正是这种张力导致试图透过西式选举达成村落公意和民众共识的设想在重建当代乡村公共性实践中遇到问题。     

Village Citizenship in China: A Case Study of Zhejiang

This paper aims to examine the idea and practice, as well as the implications, of village citizenship in China. It spells out the context and content of village citizenship, describes struggles for village status, and addresses the puzzling questions of why and how villagers seek to retain this status. It further examines the logic of how such struggles are leading to the establishment and improvement of village democratic institutions. The paradoxes and problems associated with village citizenship, and the significance of village citizenship for achieving meaningful citizenship are also explored.     

Empathy in a Citizen Deliberation Experiment

Despite increased scholarly attention, there is still limited knowledge on how empathy works in democratic deliberation. This article examines the role of empathy in citizen deliberation with the help of a deliberative experiment on immigration. First, a random sample of citizens was surveyed regarding their opinions on immigration. Based on their opinions, they were then divided into a permissive or a non‐permissive enclave, and randomly assigned into like‐minded or mixed‐opinion groups for deliberation. After deliberation, they were surveyed anew. The study analyzes: (a) empathy differences between permissive and non‐permissive participants; (b) changes in outgroup empathy toward immigrants as a result of deliberation; and (c) differences in prosocial behavior (i.e., donating to charity). The results show that the permissive respondents had more empathy, especially toward immigrants, than the non‐permissive respondents. Among participants, outgroup empathy increased during deliberation. Regarding prosocial behavior, the permissive participants donated more often to charity at the end of the experiment.     

社会保障资源安排中的逻辑与政治——以华北一个村庄为例

采用"质的研究"方式,对社会转型期华北一个村庄内各种保障或救济性质的资源安排进行了微观分析。相对于宏观政策层面的简单与明晰,正式的社会保障资源在农村社区的分配与利用过程中的功能、内容和形式都更为丰富,如作为消解其他政策和项目所带来的负面影响的工具,或演变为被争夺的竞争性经济资源,或将动态的保障制度异化为长期的养老保障,或作为维稳和社区治理的一种政策性工具等;这些变异一方面有悖政策初衷,使得政策目标发生偏离,另一方面也可能侵蚀社会公正。因此,社会保障政策制定与执行过程中需要充分考虑农村社区复杂而多元的现实,更具规范性、透明性和参与性,这也要求建立起更为健全的农村社会保障体系以及相应的监测与评估机制,厘清社会保障与社会治理的关系,尽可能避免进入政策资源异化与资源补偿型维稳的怪圈。与此同时,非正式的保障资源或社区内部的某些安排则在一定程度上弥补了正式的政策性资源的缺位或短缺,而如何将正式的保障政策资源与社区的、社会的力量有效结合起来是有待进一步研究的课题。     

乡村振兴进程中协商民主嵌入乡村治理的内在机理与路径选择

协商民主作为重要的民主制度设计和治理形式,对于优化乡村治理具有极为重要的意义与价值。将协商民主嵌入乡村治理,实现协商民主与乡村治理的有效融合,契合党和政府推动乡村振兴战略顺利实施的迫切需要。协商民主嵌入乡村治理体系和治理过程,不是单纯的制度吸纳和整合,而是包括制度嵌入、行动嵌入和认知嵌入在内的多维嵌入结构和过程。从全国各地的治理实践来看,民主协商机制尚未真正嵌入乡村治理的各个环节和各个领域,协商民主的制度优势和治理功能未得到充分发挥。为此,必须加快协商民主嵌入乡村治理的进程,将协商民主理念嵌入到广大农村基层干部和群众的认知之中,形成有事好商量的思维方式和行为习惯;不断健全与完善协商民主的各种体制机制,促进协商民主制度优势转化为乡村治理效能。     

Political Efficacy through Deliberative Participation in Urban China: A Case Study on Public Hearings

Since the early 2000s, local governments in China have been holding public hearings to solicit opinion from state, city and township residents about legal and administrative issues. Having begun with a relatively small participation rate, in the last 10 years public hearings have achieved sustainable growth in their frequency and visibility in mainstream and social media. Given that public hearings do not offer decision-making power, the increased participation rate reveals an influence not necessarily on public policy making, but on urban citizens’ attitudes towards available participatory and deliberative mechanisms. This article refers to three bodies of literature: political efficacy, deliberative democracy, and social movements. The literature on political efficacy reveals the link between political attitudes and behaviors. The literature on deliberative democracy is an important part of the analysis because Chinese public hearings are based on deliberative designs imported from North America and Western Europe. The literature on social movements complements the deliberative analysis undertaken in an authoritarian context by providing it with conceptual tools to adapt to this new setting. The public hearings held in Guiyang (Guizhou), Wuhan (Hubei) and Qingdao (Shandong) in 2010 and 2011 are used as case studies to demonstrate participation demographics and the impact of public hearing participation on city dwellers. This article investigates the impact of participation in public hearings on the political efficacy of Chinese citizens, and, based on the results, contends that such participation equips the participants with an increased level of political efficacy, and enables the development of political networks and citizen strategies that help to constrain local officials.     

乡镇政权缘何会干预村委会选举——基于博弈论的分析与对策探讨

乡镇政权干预村委会选举，是农村政治“内卷化”的明显表现，其背后隐藏了一种利益博弈的发生机理。基于博弈模型的分析，矫正乡镇政权干预村委会选举的不良现象，必须增强村民的博弈能力，提高村民反对干预的成功概率，降低乡镇政权干预选举的期待功效。其具体对策是：完善村民选举权利救济制度，培育村民组织化的社会力量，改革村委会选举管理机制。     

Deliberation and Opinion Change: Evidence from a Deliberative Mini‐public in Finland

A number of studies examining the effects of deliberative citizen forums have found that citizens taking part in deliberative processes experience changes in their policy attitudes. However, it remains unclear why these opinion changes occur, since most studies pay little attention to the communicative exchange that is expected to cause the observed changes. Within deliberative theory, there is an expectation that reasonable individuals should be amenable to changing their preferences as a result of the reflection induced by the deliberative process. However, apart from a few recent studies, there has been little empirical research that directly examines how the quality of the communication affects opinion change. This article fills this gap by examining what factors help explain the opinion changes that occur in citizen deliberation. To do this, the article uses data from a mini‐public organized in Turku, Finland, concerning the use of nuclear power. First, the extent and nature of the opinion changes that occurred as a result of the deliberation are established. Following this, the article examines the explanatory powers of a number of potential explanations: deliberative reasoning, sociodemographic inequalities and issue awareness. The results suggest that both deliberative reasoning and issue awareness are significant predictors, meaning there is no single explanation for opinion changes.     

Democracy: From City-states to a Cosmopolitan Order?

This article traces the development of the idea of democracy from city-states and the early republican tradition to liberalism and Marxism. The relevance of leading conceptions of democracy to contemporary circumstances are then explored. In light of the complex interconnections among states and societies, a set of arguments are developed which offer a new agenda for democratic theory which departs from an exclusive focus on particular political communities and the nation-state. After an examination of a number of key models of the international order - the states system, the UN Charter framework - the case is made for a cosmopolitan international democracy. While such a case is fraught with difficulties, strong grounds are presented for its indispensability to the maintenance and development of democracy both within pre-established borders and across them.     

网络公共论坛:虚拟空间中的协商民主实践

从逻辑关联看,网络公共论坛与协商民主具有内有内在契合性,它堪称虚拟空间中的协商民主实践.网络公共论坛努力地实践着协商民主的核心理念,它有利于拓展公共参与的空间,扩展公共参与,为公共参与清除时空和代表性等障碍,还有利于打破权威垄断,更能实现参与平等,推动政府官员与公民之间的直接对话.当然,网络公共论坛也是一把"双刃剑",其消极作用也不可忽视.推动网络公共空间中的协商民主茁壮成长、走向成熟是一个相当复杂的系统工程.四个重点问题需要注意:推动互联网建设和网络知识普及;加强网络民主政治的制度建设;构筑社区网络公共论坛;培育参与型政治文化.     

Credible Empowerment and Deliberative Participation: A Comparative Study of Two Nuclear Energy Policy Deliberation Cases in Korea

What factors make deliberative participation of public policy effective? Why, in some cases, are participants in deliberation more motivated than others, and reach their final judgment in a timely manner, based on systematic processes of opinion gathering and consensus building? By comparing and investigating two recent cases of public participation in energy policy deliberation in Korea, we argue that deliberative participation is more effective when the prospect that the outcome of their activities might be accepted by decision makers is high. The two cases, the public deliberation committee (PDC) on the nuclear waste issue which operated from 2013 to 2015, and the PDC on the nuclear power plant construction issue which operated in 2017, show that they went through similar courses of action, and used similar methods for deliberation. However, while the 2017 PDC has produced clear‐cut policy recommendations, and the government have accepted these, the 2013 PDC failed to reach conclusions on the given critical issues. We argue that the difference in the results is caused by credible empowerment along with two other factors––the sensitivity of issues and the learning effect. Participants of deliberation tend to judge the possibility of the government’s acceptance of their opinions based on either the government’s direct announcement or its inclusiveness in the past policy history. If governments are willing to consult the public to increase legitimacy and transparency, they should send explicit signals to the public on its inclusiveness in the short term, and also should increase credibility in the long term.