# Young's Deliberative Democracy

## October 21st, 2020

-   So, the exegesis 2 grades should be out; I mentioned last week that Rousseau doesn't always use terms in standard ways, particularly "democracy" and "government". I expected some people to get tripped up by that, but a LOT of people misunderstood Rousseau and ended up taking the wrong approach.
    -   Remember, you do have a chance to revise this assignment and turn it back in
    -   The important thing a lot of people got tripped up over: "democracy" is a form of "government" for Rousseau, which is DISTINCT from the law-making sovereign
    -   "I'm not trying to scold you guys, but this is...well, a teachable moment, as much as that term's a cliche"
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-   Young is using government in our contemporary sense: some representative body that DOES have legislative power, but is answerable to the people
    -   Even so, she does make some important distinctions and disagrees with how some other scholars precisely define terms
        -   Contemporary philosophers often tend to do signposting, saying things like "this is an important definition"
    -   So, I'll give you ~10 minutes to look for technical terms that Young uses
        -   Aggregative democracy (pg.19)
        -   Deliberative democracy (pg.22)
            -   Inclusion, political equality, reasonableness, publicity
        -   "particular judgment" (pg. 29)
        -   "social justice": "the institutional conditions for promoting self-development and self-determination of a society's members" (pg.33)
            -   Self-development - conditions for learning skills, expanding possibilities, conditions for communicating / others, expressing themselves in social contexts, basic needs
                -   The opposite of this (according to Young) is OPPRESSION, where these needs are suppressed and cannot be met
            -   Self-determination - "being able to participate in determining one's actions;" having control over your own fate
                -   The opposite of this is domination, where you are somehow forced to do things without your say

-   Young's overall thesis in this chapter is that democracy can play a part in fostering a more just society, and is arguably the best way to do so
    -   Young defines DEMOCRACY as a system of government in which the public has a say, requiring "a rule of law, that voting is the means of making decisions when consensus is not possible...that democratic process requires freedom of speech/assembly/association/etc."
        -   She splits this into 2 kinds that dominate most modern ideas of democracy:
            -   AGGREGATIVE DEMOCRACY is where everyone votes for their own preferences and wants, and then we go with the majority; it's essentially a combination of private self-interests, and has similarities to the marketplace as people compete for votes (this is similar to Locke's classical liberalism)
                -   Young has issues with this because no one has to pay any attention to the other groups, no one learns anything, and losing groups are overruled
            -   DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY is where citizens FIRST engage in deliberation about what's best for the community, and to be legitimate that conversation has to be inclusive, politically equitable, reasonable, and public
                -   This is similar to Rousseau's ideas for the Sovereign, but Young pulls back on the idea of a single "common good"
                -   Young regards this difference as CRUCIAL - it's a view of citizens as engaging with one another and moving towards agreements, not just selfishly seeking their own interests
                -   Let's look at her 4 terms
                    -   INCLUSION refers to the idea that everyone affected by a policy is included in the process of discussion and decision-making
                    -   POLITICAL EQUALITY is a subset of inclusion where everyone should be included on equal terms; no one "is in a position to coerce or threaten others into taking a certain position"
                    -   REASONABLENESS refers to being willing to listen to others who disagree with them and their ideas; having an "open mind" and being open to correction
                        -   Young does NOT think this idea of reasonableness is identical to rational argument, but instead this idea of open-mindedness
                    -   PUBLICITY means that everyone discussing should hold everyone else accountable, and seek to talk in ways tht everyone can understand
                        -   Social media is the near opposite of this, where anonymity means people can say anything (including terrible things) without any consequences
    -   Young also talks about having "decentered discourse" instead of Rousseau's model of everyone gathered together

-   We'll pick this up again next week, but these issues will come up again in later chapters - stay tuned!