Deliberative Constitutionalism: An Empirical Dimension

Abstract

Deliberative democracy unites around a model of decision-making that is democratically inclusive and deliberative: those with an interest in an issue engage with others on a basis consistent with their equality, and they conscientiously attempt to discern what lies in the common interest. While the initial literature was primarily theoretical, a body of empirical work has developed that considers how well various institutions or groups in society perform against the deliberative democratic ideal.