ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the normative rather than solely empirical dimensions of democratic theory and practice. It does so by explaining the normative turn in democratic theory, about forty years ago, which began with John Rawls' work and continued through Jürgen Habermas's development of discourse ethics and subsequent work in what came to be known as deliberative democratic theory. Any notion that democracy itself could lead to freedom and equality, or vice versa, was simply naïve given that capitalistic governmental structures would never tolerate full and equal participation. Liberal feminists did much to call into question some of the underlying misogynist elements of liberal democratic theory, including the very idea of the "man of reason" as well as the social contract. Liberal feminist critics of mainstream political philosophy called into question the supposed gender-neutrality of terms like "man" as well as the sequestering of the household from political scrutiny.
