The rapidly changing political environment in our Western liberal democracies poses a big challenge not only to elected representatives but also to scholars. In this dissertation thesis I describe and clarify the main principles and ideas of the three currently most dominant, debated and promising democratic theories, namely participatory democracy, deliberative democracy and Mouffe's agonistic pluralism. Their criticisms and the most important polemics are included as well. The first theory introduced in dissertation's theoretical part is participatory democracy, which is heavily neglected in the Slovak academia. It is presented especially through the prism of Carole Pateman's, C.B. Macpherson's and Benjamin Barber's writings. Their ideas on civic engagement in public life appear to be noteworthy again, especially in the light of the changing conditions of democratic citizenship - particularly in regards to the EU-wide decline in voter turnout, increasing income inequality, downgrade of social solidarity and cooperation, growing intolerance or dissatisfaction with representative democracy and its institutions. This theory has been verified on the example of the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECI), which are deemed to be one of most promising political tools adjusting EU's democratic deficit....

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This thesis demonstrates that participants in Political Blogging Communities increase their deliberative capacity over time, potentially enabling them to participate in democratic societies. The study unifies perspectives on the meaning of blogs in American politics. It presents a unique theoretical framework that incorporates community and social learning literatures. The Internet is thought to potentially enable a revitalization of democracy because of its political and communicative properties. While studies have looked to deliberation in online forums, this study specifically targets Political Blogging Communities. Blogs have been targeted by a diverse range of scholars and methods that raise questions of their role in emphasizing the constitutional ideal of deliberation. Daily Kos and Red State are among the most popular political discussion sites, but are generally under-investigated in the literature. The theoretical framework and results presented here suggest that they are places where democratic capacity increases. A pilot study provided encouraging results. Because Political Blogging Communities talk about public issues, have several aspects of a supportive community, and feature contributions from ordinary people, they foster an adherence to deliberative norms. The sampling frame sought dedicated participants in an effort to approach the question of social learning over time. To address these questions, the deliberative content of 373 diaries from 20 authors at Daily Kos and Red State was hand coded. This Thesis makes two principal contributions: (1) it introduces a new measure that assesses deliberative quality is introduced, and (2) finds that the diversity of deliberative content in political blogs increases over time. / Master of Arts

Thesis (PhD (Education))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / 241 leaves printed on single pages, preliminary pages i-xii and numbered pages 1-230. Includes bibliography. / Digitized at 600 dpi grayscale to pdf format (OCR), using a Bizhub 250 Konica Minolta Scanner. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Educators at schools are expected to implement education policy changes promulgated through policy frameworks by the Department of Education in South Africa. However, whether these teachers are equipped to implement education policy or whether they have interacted sufficiently with policy issues remains a contentious issue. My contention is that pre-service and in-service teachers are expected to perform certain roles and demonstrate certain competences, as required or implied by changing education policy frameworks, like the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000), but might not necessarily be equipped to do so. This dissertation utilised conceptual analysis and a literature review, as research methods, to explore constitutive meanings of the concept 'education policy' in relation to teacher education transformation in post-apartheid South Africa, with reference to the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000). Constitutive meanings (Fay, 1975) of post-apartheid teacher education refer to all those shared assumptions, definitions, and conceptions, which structure teacher education transformation and post-apartheid teacher education in certain definite ways. Without these constitutive meanings, according to Fay (1975: 76), social practices, like teacher education, could not exist. By revealing these constitutive meanings, in terms of the interpretive paradigm (Fay, 1975: 78), I have given a possible explanation of post-apartheid teacher education, by articulating the conceptual scheme that frames post-apartheid teacher education. These constitutive meanings, which were extracted from a literature review, were explored in relation to the main question of this dissertation: Can the new teacher education policy framework, as set out in the Norms and Standards for Educators of 2000, improve teaching and learning in South African schools? I argue that the latter process will not materialise because of question marks over the transformative potential of the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000). The mentioned policy framework may be an inappropriate framework to structure and guide the transformation of existing teacher education practices because of certain conceptual gaps. These conceptual gaps are stumbling blocks to transform existing teacher education practice and improve teaching and learning in our schools in the post-apartheid era. I argue that these gaps could be bridged if the Norms and Standards for Educators are reconceptualised along the lines of Benhabib's (1994) deliberative democratic model. Deliberation is necessary because policy alone cannot lead to the transformation of post-apartheid teacher education. Deliberation is also necessary because of the limitations on the state's power to enforce its will through promulgated policy. More engagement, via deliberation, is needed between the government, educational leaders, policy-makers and the other policy actors, like teachers, bureaucrats and teacher education institutions. The arguments of Burbules (1997) and Biesta (2004) seem to substantiate my claim that education policy, alone, cannot lead to the improvement of teaching and learning in our schools. Burbules (1997) posits that teaching is a complex human endeavour that is characterised by predicaments or dilemmas, which cannot be permanently solved. I argue against the integration of the seven roles, as advocated by the Norms and Standards for Educators, because of certain dilemmas. We need the tragic perspective on teaching, of Burbules (1997), to approach teaching differently. Biesta (2004) also urges us to approach teaching differently, by advocating a new language for education. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar word van Suid-Afrikaanse opvoeders by skole verwag om opvoedingsbeleid veranderinge, wat via beleidsraamwerke gepromulgeer is deur die Departement van Onderwys, te implementeer. Wat egter 'n kontensieuse kwessie bly is of hierdie opvoeders toegerus is om opvoedingsbeleid te implementeer en of hulle genoegsaam omgegegaan het met beleidskwessies. My argument is dat daar van voor-diens- en indiens opvoeders verwag word om sekere rolle te speel en sekere kompetensies of bekwaamhede te demonstreer, soos vereis of geimpliseer deur veranderende opvoedingsbeleid raamwerke, soos die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders (Departement van Onderwys, 2000), maar dat hulle nie noodwendig toegerus is om dit te doen nie. Hierdie proefskrif utiliseer konseptuele analise en 'n literatuur oorsig, as navorsingsmetodes, om konstituerende betekenisse van die konsep 'opvoedingsbeleid', in verhouding tot onderwyseropvoeding transformasie in postapartheid Suid-Afrika, met verwysing na die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders (Departement van Onderwys, 2000), te eksploreer. Konstituerende betekenisse (Fay, 1975) van post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding verwys na al daardie gedeelde aannames, definisies, en konsepsies, wat onderwyseropvoeding transformasie en post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding op sekere definitiewe maniere struktureer. Sosiale praktyke soos onderwyseropvoeding kan volgens Fay (1975: 76) nie sonder hierdie konstituerende betekenisse bestaan nie. Ek het hopelik, deur die ontbloting van hierdie konstituerende betekenisse, in terme van die interpretatiewe navorsingsparadigma (Fay, 1975: 78), 'n verduideliking gegee van post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding, deur my artikulasie van die konseptuele skema wat die realiteit van onderwyseropvoeding op sekere maniere definieer. Hierdie konstituerende betekenisse, wat onttrek is van 'n literatuur oorsig, was geeksploreer in verhouding tot die hoof vraag van hierdie proefskrif: Kan die nuwe onderwyseropvoeding beleidsraamwerk, soos uitgespel in die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders van 2000, onderrig en leer in Suid-Afrikaanse skole verbeter?

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The tradition of liberalism in South Africa has played a significant role in shaping the country's multi-party democracy. Yet, there are several gaps within the tradition of liberalism which can be associated with an aversion towards majority rule, equalising opportunities through affirmative action measures, and a focus on securing political rights as opposed to substantive rights for all citizens. It is my contention that weaknesses within the liberal tradition could be minimised if a more credible conception of liberalism is constructed within the parameters of a deliberative framework of democracy. In this dissertation I make an argument for a defensible form of liberalism which can be achieved through a rational, reflexive discourse-oriented procedure of deliberative democracy. Deliberative democracy in turn can engender a form of citizenship which recognises the need for citizens to care, reason and engage justly in political conversation with others. KEYWORDS: Liberalism, communitarianism, deliberative democracy and South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tradisie van liberalisme in Suid-Afrika het 'n noemenswaardige bydrae gelewer tot die totstandkoming van die land se veelparty demokratiese bestel. Afgesien hiervan, verskyn daar vele gapings binne die liberale tradisie wat hoogstens vereenselwig kan word met 'n teenkanting teen meerderheidsregering, skepping van gelyke geleenthede deur regstellende aksies en 'n fokus eerder om politieke regte liewer as ook substantiewe regte vir alle burgers te bekom. Ek redeneer dat tekortkominge binne die liberale tradisie geminimaliseer kan word indien 'n meer vededigbare begrip van liberalisme gekonstrueer word binne die perke van 'n beredeneerde demokratiese raamwerk. Ek voer aan dat 'n verdedigbare vorm van liberalisme bewerkstellig kan word deur 'n rasionele, refleksiewe diskoersgeoriënteerde prosedure van beredeneerde demokrasie. Op die beurt kan beredeneerde demokrasie 'n vorm van burgerskap teweegbring wat die belangrikheid van omgee en redenering erken, en ook terselfdertyd burgers betrek op 'n geregverdige wyse in gesprekvoeing met ander persone. SLEUTELWOORDE: Liberalisme, gemeenskapsgerigte liberalisme, beredeneerde demokrasie en Suid-Afrika.

<p>The aim of this inquiry is to investigate which ideals of democracy that three proposals for strengtening the democracy in the European Union consists of and to judge if the desired effects of the proposals are reachable. The method that is used is an analysis of ideas and contents. Theories that are used are deliberative and particiapatory ideals of democracy. The theories are used to investigate if the ideas in the proposals correspond to the ideals of deliberative and participatory democracy. The major result is that the proposals fail to fulfil the ideas of the theories. The reason is that the proposals are lacking ideas of how to make the citizens more aware and active in politics. The point of departure in the proposals is that the European Union will be more democratic if the people are brought in to the politics, but they do not suggest how people should form opinions through communication and become conscious and competent in political issues through participation. It is also likely that the effects of the proposals not are reachable to all the citizens. Only the ones who have an interest in communicating and participating in European politics will be gained by the proposals.</p>

為了避免代議民主所產生的政治疏離感，加強公民間的聯繫以及政治參與，審議式民主近年來受到相當廣泛的討論。審議式民主的核心概念乃是透過人民深思熟慮的審議，以理性溝通、公開論理的方式，在決策過程中充分表現公民的多元觀點，獲得更高的民主正當性。審議式民主政治中，為了能透過開放的討論過程，達成公共審議的目標，公民勢必需要瞭解公共議題的各種不同多元觀點，而這恐怕並非目前商業化競爭機制中的媒體所能提供的。欲解決民主政治與媒體商業競爭所造成的惡性循環，本文乃提出審議式民主與大眾傳播媒體互相配合的論點，政治改革與媒體改革同時進行，一方面透過政治參與以凝聚公民意識，並改善媒體市場競爭亂象，如此方可能有效的打破媒體與政治的惡性循環，為民主生活的實踐帶來新契機。

在審議式民主逐漸由實驗性操作邁入政策實務落實之際，政府部門人員和審議式公民參與活動研究團隊間的互動關係，乃成為影響審議式民主在政府政策實務落實的關鍵要素。本文以「中港河廊通學步道願景工作坊」為例，併採深度訪談法、參與觀察法及次級資料分析法，從官僚的工具理性與審議式民主的溝通理性之捍格切入，探究委託機關人員和研究團隊的互動對審議式民主在地方政府政策規劃過程落實之影響。研究結果顯示，政府部門人員對審議式民主的認知偏向實務、工具及結果面向，而研究團隊則是著重溝通理性和審議式民主精神的體現，二者間的衝突將可能為審議式民主於政策實務的落實帶來困境；另於過程中亦發現，審議式公民參與活動之進行可能因各種突發狀況的產生，導致活動進行無法完全實踐審議式民主精神，更顯現出活動進行和理論論述間確實存在著落差。基於研究發現，本文建議可加強政府部門人員教育與培訓，使其熟習審議式民主之意涵；另也需因應討論議題與在地系絡彈性運用公共討論模式，以有助公民參與討論的進行。此外，也建議學界未來可著力於審議式公民參與活動評估機制的建構，或從政府機關首長、內部結構及過程等角度切入深究，以對審議式民主在政府政策實務上之推行有所裨益。 / As deliberative democracy theory has gradually changed from academic experiments into practical application in policy arena, the interaction between the administrators and the research team in conducting deliberative civic engagement activities has become the critical factor that influences whether the deliberative mechanism can be adopted in policy arena. The article uses the trails for the Chung Kang Drainage to walk to and from school scenario workshop as the empirical setting. From the perspective of incomparability between instrumental rationality and communicative rationality, this article explores how the interaction between the administrators and the research team influences the practice of deliberative democracy in local governmental policy planning through in-depth interviews, participant observation and secondary data analysis. The research discovers that the administrators tend to regard deliberative democracy as practical, instrumental, and result-oriented. In contrast, the research team puts more emphasis on communicative rationality and the materialization of deliberative democracy. Such conflict may cause problems in the practice of deliberative democracy in policy arena. Besides, this article also finds that deliberative democracy is difficult to practice because of some unexpected incidents in the process of the deliberative civic engagement activities. This situation also does reveal the gap between the practice and the theory. Based on the findings, this thesis suggests that the government should reinforce the education and training of the administrators to understand the core values of deliberative democracy. Besides, due to the difference of the issue and the context, we should adopt different public discourse modes with flexibility to facilitate the process of civic engagement. In addition, in order to promote the application of deliberative democracy in the policy arena, this article also suggests scholars devote themselves to designing criteria for assessing deliberative civic engagement and to examine other factors, such as the chief executive of the agency, internal structure, and the process within public agencies.