ABSTRACT
This chapter firstly discusses the theory of deliberative democracy (TDD) and its application to the International Relations discipline. The chapter analyses the TDD and its principles as well as the benefits of adopting a deliberative model in international decision-making. The works of Jürgen Habermas are shown to be foundational for studies on the TDD, while the legitimacy and superiority of decisions taken through a deliberative mode are shown to be two key benefits emanating from this theoretical framework. The second section then focuses on the determinants of high-quality deliberation. It presents and discusses the hypotheses that will be tested on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) deliberations. The hypotheses discussed also include a number of state-related hypotheses (SRH) that are composed of original propositions focusing specifically on ‘state’ characteristics and how they may determine the deliberative quality of the IMO's member states. The third section then provides a road map that details the journey of this research. It presents the research questions that will guide this journey during the two stages of this study.
The chapter then explains the methodological techniques and data sources that are used throughout this study. The study makes use of both quantitative and qualitative methods to answer the research questions. The quantitative dimension is based on the Discourse Quality Index (DQI), while the qualitative dimension is based on interviews and document analysis.
