ABSTRACT
Within every “healthy” democracy, differences of opinion and conflicts on public issues should exist. Moreover, for theories of deliberative democracy, difference of opinion is central to political or public-spirited talk. Rather than viewing democracy as the process of expressing preferences and registering them in a vote, democracy is viewed as a “process that creates a public, citizens coming together to talk about collective problems, goals, ideals, and actions” (Young 1996: 121). Public communication is needed to come to mutual understanding, and for some scholars, even to obtain consensus. For that to come about, a free and open exchange of information and arguments should take place, and different voices should be present in the debate.
