Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T11:32:04.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Justification Versus Public Deliberation: The Case for Reconciliation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2022

Henrik D. Kugelberg Open the ORCID record for Henrik D. Kugelberg [Opens in a new window]
Henrik D. Kugelberg*
Affiliation:
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
*
Email: henrik.kugelberg@stanford.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Kevin Vallier has recently argued that the ideals of public justification and public deliberation should be separated. The link between the two, Vallier suggests, has been assumed without being properly defended. Once examined, the connection falls apart. In this paper, I argue that there is, in fact, a clear and convincing story available for why the two ideals should be treated as mutually reinforcing. Drawing on recent empirical evidence, I argue that the deliberative behaviour of citizens can have a clear and positive impact on the behaviour and policy choices of public officials.

Keywords

Public deliberationpublic reasonpublic justificationpolitical liberalism
Type
Discussion Note
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 51 , Issue 6 , August 2021 , pp. 468 - 473
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Canadian Journal of Philosophy

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arlen, Gordon, and Rossi, Enzo. 2021. “Must Realists Be Pessimists about Democracy? Responding to Epistemic and Oligarchic Challenges.” Moral Philosophy and Politics 8 (1): 27–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arlen, Gordon. 2019. “Aristotle and the Problem of Oligarchic Harm: Insights for Democracy.” European Journal of Political Theory 18: 393–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardon, Aurélia. 2018. “Two Misunderstandings about Public Justification and Religious Reason.” Law and Philosophy 37: 639–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardon, Aurélia. 2020. “Is Epistemic Accessibility Enough? Same-Sex Marriage, Tradition, and the Bible.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 23 (1): 21–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benoit, William L., and Hansen, Glenn J.. 2001. “Presidential Debate Questions and the Public Agenda.” Communication Quarterly 49 (2): 130–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benoit, William L., Hansen, Glenn J., and Verser, Rebecca M.. 2003. “A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Viewing U.S. Presidential Debates.” Communication Monographs 70 (4): 335–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billingham, Paul, and Taylor, Anthony. 2020. “A Framework for Analyzing Public Reason Theories.” European Journal of Political Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474885120925381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boettcher, James. 2019. “Deliberative Democracy, Diversity, and Restraint.” Res Publica 26: 215–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonotti, Matteo. 2017. Partisanship and Political Liberalism in Diverse Societies. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callaghan, Karen, and Schnell, Frauke. 2001. “Assessing the Democratic Debate: How The News Media Frame Elite Policy Discourse.” Political communication 18 (2): 183–213.Google Scholar
Casillas, Christopher J., Enns, Peter K., and Wohlfarth, Patrick C.. 2011. “How Public Opinion Constrains the US Supreme Court.” American Journal of Political Science 55 (1): 74–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Joshua. 1997. “Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy.” In Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, edited by James Bohman and William Rehg, 407–38. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, Samuel. 2000. “Deliberative Democracy: A Sympathetic Comment.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 29 (4): 371–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garthwaite, Craig, and Moore, Timothy J.. 2013. “Can Celebrity Endorsements Affect Political Outcomes? Evidence from the 2008 US Democratic Presidential Primary.” The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 29 (2): 355–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaus, Gerald, and Vallier, Kevin. 2009. “The Roles of Religious Conviction in a Publicly Justified Polity: The Implications of Convergence, Asymmetry, And Political Institutions.” Philosophy & Social Criticism 35 (1): 51–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaus, Gerald. 2011. The Order of Public Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 2006. “Religion in The Public Sphere.” European Journal of Philosophy 14: 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hager, Anselm, and Hilbig, Hanno. 2020. “Does Public Opinion Affect Political Speech?” American Journal of Political Science 64 (4): 921–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, Sally. 2018. “AP Exclusive: Billionaires Fuel US Charter Schools Movement.” AP News. https://apnews.com/article/92dc914dd97c487a9b9aa4b006909a8c.Google Scholar
Laborde, Cécile. 2020a. “Can Religious Establishment Be Liberal Enough?” Studies in Christian Ethics 33 (2): 215–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laborde, Cécile. 2020b. “Three Cheers for Liberal Modesty.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 23 (1): 119–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leland, R. J., and van Wietmarschen, Han. 2012. “Reasonableness, Intellectual Modesty, and Reciprocity in Political Justification.” Ethics 122 (4): 721–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neufeld, Blain. 2019. “Shared Intentions, Public Reason, and Political Autonomy.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 49 (6): 776–804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbett, Gwendelyn, and Dunn, Stephanie Schartel. 2021. “Reputation Matters: Parasocial Attachment, Narrative Engagement, and the 2018 Taylor Swift Political Endorsement.” Atlantic Journal of Communication 29 (1): 26–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quong, Jonathan. 2011. Liberalism without Perfection. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. [1993] 2005. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 1997. “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited.” The University of Chicago Law Review 64 (3): 765–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romeijn, Jeroen. 2020. “Do Political Parties Listen to The(ir) Public? Public Opinion–Party Linkage on Specific Policy Issues.” American Political Science Review 26 (4): 426–36.Google Scholar
Rottinghaus, Brandon. 2008. “Presidential leadership on Foreign Policy, Opinion Polling, and the Possible Limits of ‘Crafted Talk.’” Political Communication 25 (2): 138–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stears, Marc, and Humphrey, Mathew. 2012. “Public Reason and Political Action: Justifying Citizen Behaviour in Actually-Existing Democracies.” The Review of Politics 74 (2): 285–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallier, Kevin. 2015. “Public Justification Versus Public Deliberation: The Case for Divorce.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 45 (2): 139–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, Lori, and Hartley, Christie. 2018. Equal Citizenship and Public Reason: A Feminist Political Liberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Winters, Jeffrey A. 2011. Oligarchy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar