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42 Pol. Theory 3 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/ptxa42 and id is 1 raw text is: Article

Political Theory
2014, Vol. 42(1) 3-25
Deliberative          Cultures                       © 2013 SAGE Publications
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DOI: 10.1 177/0090591713507933
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Jensen Sass' and John S. Dryzek2                              $SAGE
Abstract
Increasing interest in applying the theory and practice of deliberative
democracy to new and varied political contexts leads us to ask whether
or not deliberation is a universal political practice. While deliberation
does manifest a universal competence, its character varies substantially
across time and space, a variation partially explicable in cultural terms. We
deploy an intersubjective conception of culture in order to explore these
differences. Culture meets deliberation where publicly accessible meanings,
symbols, and norms shape the way political actors engage one another in
discourse. Fuller understanding of political deliberation requires comparative
and historical studies of particular contexts. We look at one case from Egypt
in some depth and provide shorter illustrations from Botswana, Europe,
India, Japan, Madagascar, the United States, Yemen, and elsewhere. Cross-
cultural learning can enrich the theory of deliberative democracy, and give
democratic theory a more universal reach.
Keywords
deliberative democracy, political culture, intersubjective conception of
culture, communicative norms
Introduction
Deliberative theories of democracy are often taken as beginning in the polis
of ancient Athens, subsequently developed by figures from the Western canon
such as Aristotle, Burke, Mill, Rawls, and Habermas, finding their current
'Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
2Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Corresponding Author:
John S. Dryzek, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, School of
Politics and International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200,
Australia.
Email: john.dryzek@anu.edu.au

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