James S. Fishkin
Departments of Communication and Political Science and
Director, Center for Deliberative
Democracy
Stanford University
"Who Speaks for the People? -- Deliberative Democracy and Competing Conceptions of Public Opinion"
Abstract:
This paper explores competing conceptions of public opinion and the variety
of democratic mechanisms that can be used to consult them. The argument
ranges over referenda, focus groups, self-selected fora, public opinion
polls, deliberative polls and the role of elected representatives. The
focus is on how certain fundamental democratic values such as political
equality and deliberation can be realized in the modern large scale nation
state.
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