DCD participates in the 2022 Conference of the Humanities hosted by the University of Iceland with a panel called DELIBERATION, PARTICIPATION, INCLUSION: KEY ISSUES OF DEMOCRACY.
The panel focuses on the concept of democracy from two different directions. On the one hand we discuss the necessary conditions of democracy, on the other democratic legitimacy. Three strands of democracy will figure most clearly in the talks: Deliberation, participation and inclusion. The idea of deliberative democracy has transformed democratic theory in the last three to four decades. In deliberative democracy the quality and transparency of democratic authority depends on its deliberative qualities where the engagement of citizens in monitoring and discussing policy- and decision-making is of primary importance. Civic participation has become a more prominent topic of democratic theory more recently which to some extent reflects dwindling trust in democratic institutions, doubts about democratic representation and a demand for greater civic control of public decision-making. But participation does not guarantee inclusion and even where robust participatory processes are in place minorities and marginal groups may still not enjoy full political access. Speakers explore how deliberation, participation and inclusion figure in both outlining necessary conditions of democracy and ensuring democratic legitimacy. Deliberation e.g. does not provide safeguards against special interest or guarantee the quality of decsions. Participatory processes may undermine democratic accountability and lead to doubts about the legitimacy of decisions-making.
Panel program
kl. 13.00-14.30 room 311 Árnagarði
Jón Ólafsson: Deliberation: Quality vs. Diversity as a measure of democracy
Sævar Finnbogason: From Technocracy to Technopopulism
Milica Minic: Meaningful Participation as a Site of (Productive) Tension: Citizen Engagement and Democratic Accountability
15.00-16.30 room 311 í Árnagarði
Jeremias Schledorn: What you Represent: The Politics of Representation and the Moral Problem of Redescription
Katrín Oddsdóttir: Democratic Constitutionalism and the Icelandic Constitutional Process
Valgerður Björk Pálsdóttir: When deliberative events are disregarded in the political decision-making process: Motivations, attitudes and actions of elected representatives in Iceland
Visit the conference website for abstracts and full conference program.
