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A Problem-Based Approach to Democratic Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

MARK E. WARREN
MARK E. WARREN*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
*
Mark E. Warren is Professor, Department of Political Science, C425 Main Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1, Canada (warrenme@mail.ubc.ca).
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Abstract

Over the last few decades, democratic theory has grown dramatically in its power and sophistication, fueled by debates among models of democracy. But these debates are increasingly unproductive. Model-based strategies encourage theorists to overgeneralize the place and functions of ideal typical features of democracy, such as deliberation or elections. Here I sketch an alternative strategy based on the question: What kinds of problems does a political system need to solve to count as “democratic”? I suggest three general kinds: it should empower inclusions, form collective agendas and wills, and have capacities to make collective decisions. We can view common practices such as voting and deliberating as means for addressing these problems, and theorize institutional mixes of practices that would maximize a political system's democratic problem-solving capacities. The resulting theories will be both normatively robust and sufficiently fine-grained to frame democratic problems, possibilities, and deficits in complex polities.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 111 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 39 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2017 

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Footnotes

Earlier versions of this article were presented at the Midwest Political Science Association, the University of Helsinki, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Peking University, the University of Stuttgart, and the University of Zurich. I am very grateful to the audiences for their comments and criticisms. Thank you to Richard Avramenko, Edana Beauvais, Steven Forde, Claudio Lopez-Guerra, Jane Mansbridge, Graham Smith, Johannes Pollack, Melissa Williams, and the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their helpful thoughts and recommendations. Research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Grant No. 435-2012-1747.

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