ABSTRACT
German municipalities are increasingly implementing informal citizen participation processes, a form of participation that can be understood as an umbrella term for deliberative formats known and used internationally. Green republican scholars claim that deliberative formats could provide space for the crucial transformation of individual preferences in the pursuit of the common good. However, it is unclear under which conditions deliberative formats really allow for preference transformation. Against this background, I aim to contribute to debates about sustainability-oriented participation and green republicanism by arguing that informal deliberative citizen participation processes and thus deliberative formats dealing with sustainability issues ought to foster phronesis (political judgement formation) in order to facilitate preference transformation. The Aristotelian concept specifies steps and elements of citizen participation aiming at decision-making and action oriented towards the common good. However, since it originates against a specific historical and cultural background, it needs to be adapted to contemporary polity settings, for instance with regard to the underlying understanding of citizenship. After outlining the concept of phronesis, I propose necessary adaptations to the original Aristotelian concept in order to arrive at an updated version of phronesis referred to as ‘green’ political judgement formation. Subsequently, I discuss possibilities for the practical implementation of phronesis and ‘green political judgement formation’, before summarizing my findings and delineating further research needs in this field.
