1 Deliberative Democracy: Mapping Out the Deliberative Turn in Democratic Theory

Abstract

Deliberative democracy is the current buzzword in contemporary democratic thought, but the concept is deeply rooted in the republican democratic tradition. Researchers often forget these democratic roots in their hurry to "jump on the bandwagon." This chapter shows how deliberation appears in the writings of five important political thinkers within the republican tradition in order to identify the roots of deliberative democracy. It also investigates the contemporary rise of deliberative democracy and explains why the deliberative turn suddenly occurred. To begin, a brief general account of deliberative democracy will be helpful.