Abstract
Although deliberative democracy is flourishing as a political theory, there is a need to properly acknowledge
and theorize upon the role of leadership in deliberative processes. Leaders arise in all political situations for
traceable reasons and are an essential element of decision-making. Because deliberative democrats emphasize
the necessity of deliberation between free and equal citizens for legitimate decision-making, this stands in
stark contrast with the emergence and existence of leaders in deliberative settings. The current lack of
engagement has numerous implications for deliberative democracy, but most importantly creates a serious
gap between theory and practice. This paper takes a pragmatic view of these issues and seeks to analyze the
different ways in which leadership occurs during deliberative practice and the potential this holds for
recalibrating deliberative democracy. The analysis is limited to deliberative minipublics as a way to highlight
and advance my arguments.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-32 |
Journal | Journal of Public Deliberation |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |