ABSTRACT
Deliberative democracy has a distinctly different justification than either competitive or participatory models. The term has roots in the writings of philosophers such as Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls. This model seeks to have members of society enter discussions as political equals, willing to present arguments that reasonable people might accept while remaining open to changing their views based on counter-arguments, where the “unforced force of the better argument” can ideally lead to consensus. In the ideal form, this deliberation would be spread broadly throughout society. The concept is dismissed by many as Utopian. While many sortition advocates use the term “deliberative democracy”, they often have no familiarity with this Utopian term of art in philosophy, and are using the everyday meaning of the words—representative democracy by everyday people, using discussion rather than just voting.
