Democracy and Citizenship Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Democracy and Citizenship - Term Paper Example However, in order to qualify and verify this preliminary belief, this paper would first try to provide a definition of deliberative democracy, as well as expound on what this may imply in today’s American society. Then, I would try to apply such definition of deliberative democracy on what I believe in and on what I stand for, for me to be able to accurately identify on whether my actions and my beliefs can be identified with that of a deliberative democrat. Finally, after such assessment, at the end of the paper, I would summarize the main arguments, and would critically reflect on deliberative democracy with respect to the evidences that I presented earlier in the paper, as well as from scholarly academic resources. A Definition of Deliberative Democracy A lot of people may ask, especially the ones who are not very well-acquainted with political science, on what deliberative democracy is all about. Given the fact that the â€Å"common sense† political landscape on the United States, especially from a layman’s view, is dominated by the belief that the United States has one of the best models of democracy, and that major political parties only consist of the Republicans and the Democrats, a general meaning of deliberative democracy may be seen as obscure, or even unknown to many. ... paradox in the legitimacy of democracy, given the fact that, as Rousseau argues, there is actually a gap between the â€Å"will of all† and the â€Å"general will† (Benhabib 28); in this case, while the â€Å"will of all† represent â€Å"what specific individuals under concrete circumstances believe to be in their best interest,† it is not necessarily equal to the â€Å"general will† that represents â€Å"what they would believe to be in their collective interest if they were properly enlightened (Benhabib 28). Therefore, the vote of the people, which represents the will of all, may not necessarily represent the general will, which rationally answers the best interest of the people when collectively taken into consideration (Benhabib 29). In this case, Benhabib actually argues that deliberative democracy is the answer to such paradox, in which she defines deliberative democracy as a model wherein †¦legitimacy and rationality can be attained wi th regard to collective decision making processes in a polity if and only if the institutions of this polity and their interlocking relationship are so arranged that what is considered in the common interest of all (in Rousseau’s term, the â€Å"general will†) results from processes of collective deliberation conducted rationally and fairly among free and equal individuals. The more collective decision making processes approximate this model, the more the presumption of their legitimacy and rationality increases. (Benhabib 30-31). From such definition of deliberative democracy, we can see that this kind of democracy actually claims that collective decision making through deliberation is the most effective way of reaching the â€Å"general will† of the people (over the method of voting, which only reaches the â€Å"will of all†), making it