Ricardo Fabrino Mendonça

Deliberation and protest: strange bedfellows? Revealing the deliberative potential of 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil

Deliberation and protest have usually been understood as two mutually exclusive ways of practicing democracy. It has been argued that protests, due to their adversarial nature, and orientation toward conflict would hinder, rather than enhance, the prospects for deliberation. The recent cycle of protests, including the Arab Spring, Indignados and Occupy Wall Street, has however shown that contentious politics do not necessarily stand in opposition to the idea of deliberative democracy. On the contrary, these protests feature important deliberative qualities. In this article, we seek to identify the deliberative dimension of the recent wave of protests. We do so through a close analysis of theoretical approaches in democratic theory and by drawing on the 2013 protests in Brazil and Turkey. We show that deliberative democracy is not antithetical to conflicts and agonism generated by protests. In fact, protests constitute an integral part of public deliberation, especially when the latter is understood in broader terms, in terms of public conversation that occurs in multiple sites of communication. We argue that the deliberative dimension of the aforementioned protests is manifested in: (i) how they were organized, (ii) how they were carried out and (iii) what they have achieved.

Representation and Deliberation in Civil Society

This paper discusses the issue of political representation, by arguing the necessity of re-envisioning it so as to consider non-electoral forms of representation. It claims that civil society associations can be conceived of as representatives of a series of discourses, voices, opinions, perspectives and ideas. Whilst this type of representation lacks formal mechanisms of authorization and accountability, its legitimacy may emerge from the effects of such associations and from their porosity to several interactional loci. The paper suggests that associations that are open to several discursive spheres are more prone to foster a discursive accountability, built within a broad process in which discourses clash in several communicative contexts. The idea of a deliberative system helps to understand the interconnections among these interactional loci, as it points to the possibility of a dynamic between partiality and generality, which is at the heart of political representation.

Enquadramento: diferentes operacionalizações analíticas de um conceito

The article discusses the concept of frame and some of its analytic operationalizations. Starting with a reflection about the roots of the notion of frame in the works of Gregory Bateson and Erving Goffman, three investigative approaches deriving from it are subjected to analysis: (1) micro-sociological studies centered in the analysis of interactive situations; (2) discursive content analysis; and (3) framing effects analysis. To conclude, the article discusses some risks and possibilities emerging from this diversified set of approaches. It is emphasized the need of perspectives attentively concerned with the inter-subjective and social dimension of framings.

Reconhecimento e (qual?) deliberação

This paper aims at outlining a concept of deliberation compatible with the theory of recognition. Despite fostering different bodies of knowledge, these two theoretical perspectives emphasize the emancipatory potential of intersubjective communication. In order to suggest a joint approach, the article challenges four questions that seem to indicate incompatibilities between recognition and deliberation. The paper advocates a deliberative approach marked by: 1) a non-altruist conception of reciprocity; 2) a focus on meta-consensus; 3) a non-cognitive understanding of communicative forms; 4) a broad comprehension of deliberative processes; and 5) an understanding about the importance of civil society associations.

Dimensão intersubjetiva da auto-realização: em defesa da teoria do reconhecimento

O presente artigo busca discutir a teoria do reconhecimento, defendendo, na linha de Taylor e Honneth, uma perspectiva centrada na nocao de auto-realizacao. Enfocando as propostas de Fraser e Markell, procura-se contestar tres grandes ressalvas dirigidas ao chamado paradigma identitario do reconhecimento: 1) a de que ele essencializa identidades; 2) a de que lhe faltam mecanismos para distinguir reivindicacoes justificaveis das injustificaveis; e 3) a de que lutas por reconhecimento visariam apenas a uma valorizacao de grupos sociais. Acredita-se que essas criticas partem de um uso distinto da nocao de reconhecimento que o reduz a uma luta cultural voltada a valorizacao de identidades. Defende-se que a atencao ao foco intersubjetivo das propostas de Taylor e Honneth ajuda a contestar essas criticas.

Can the claim to foster broad participation hinder deliberation

This article presents a case study of one of the state Legislatures in Brazil, which has become renowned for promoting several participatory experiments. These newly designed initiatives have changed dramatically some of the procedures of the institution, and have enabled the effective political participation of thousands of civil society actors. However, the claim of fostering broad participation has often led to several shortcomings as regards the possibility of deliberation, as well as of actual participation. In order to develop this argument, the researchers: (1) observed mini-publics held at the institution during the second semester of 2011; and (2) conducted 70 interviews and 4 focus groups (with public servants, deputies and participants). The qualitative analysis of this material has been organized in five sections: selection and mobilization of participants; exchange of ideas; interconnection of discursive arenas; effectiveness; use of information and communication technology.

Mitigating systemic dangers: the role of connectivity inducers in a deliberative system

ABSTRACT This article seeks to critically discuss the notion of deliberative systems, attempting to contribute to the strengthening of the concept through a less laudatory perspective. Initially, it challenges the current use of deliberative systems as a panacea against any critique of deliberation. It argues that the concept in itself opens new dilemmas to deliberative theorists and practitioners. The article argues that the idea of deliberative systems may (1) create political asymmetries; (2) increase decision makers’ discretionary powers; and (3) neglect the incompatibility of very different discursive dynamics. The article, then, argues that these criticisms may be partially remedied through the strengthening of connections between discursive arenas, and discusses the role that three types of actors may play to induce connectivity in deliberative processes: (1) bureaucrats; (2) the media; (3) activists.

Democracia e desigualdade: as contribuições da teoria do reconhecimento

O presente artigo busca discutir as contribuicoes conceituais que surgem do dialogo entre a teoria do reconhecimento e a ideia de democracia, a fim de explorar o problema das desigualdades. O texto comeca com uma apresentacao da teoria do reconhecimento de Axel Honneth. Em seguida, desenvolvem-se algumas das principais ideias de Dewey, de modo a evidenciar as consequencias delas sobre a teoria de Honneth. Desse frutifero dialogo, nasce uma abordagem democratica da justica que tem, pelo menos, cinco pontos fortes: (1) adota uma concepcao nao institucional de politica; (2) parte da constatacao da opressao; (3) ultrapassa a dualidade entre publico e privado; (4) opera com uma visao nao homogeneizadora de igualdade; e (5) quebra a cristalizada dicotomia entre individuo e comunidade, que alimenta a suposta oposicao entre liberalismo e comunitarismo.

Assessing some measures of online deliberation

The empirical turn in deliberative democracy has fostered the development of different methodological procedures. Within this literature, studies focusing on the internet have gained increasing attention. The belief that the internet may help solve some of the deliberative deficits of democracies has propelled an interest in the potential benefits and problems of online discourse. This article seeks to discuss some of the methods that have been advocated for the study of online deliberation to point out three of their weaknesses: (01) the establishment of misleading distinctions; (02) the neglect of the implications of the deliberative system; and (03) the disregard of some specificities of the internet.

Deliberação online em consultas públicas? O caso da assembleia legislativa de Minas Gerais

Este artigo busca analisar uma consulta publica online sobre reforma politica promovida em 2011 pela Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais. Embasado pela teoria deliberacionista, o estudo de 752 posts guiou-se pela discussao de seis topicos: (1) inclusividade; (2) provimento de razoes; (3) reciprocidade; (4) respeito mutuo; (5) orientacao para o bem comum; e (6) articulacao entre arenas. Os resultados indicam: (1) uma sobrerepresentacao de participantes masculinos e oriundos da Regiao Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, embora nao tenha havido concentracao de posts em alguns comentadores; (2) o predominio de posts on topic e que apresentam justificativas para as posicoes advogadas; (3) indices muito baixos de reciprocidade entre posts e de uso de marcadores de interatividade; (4) graus muito elevados de respeito; (5) diferentes formas de ligacao das justificativas a ideias de bem comum; (6) o baixo impacto decisorio e a conexao com outras arenas da esfera publica, destacando-se a relacao com uma materia publicada em jornal de grande circulacao. Os achados sao ambivalentes para os defensores da deliberacao, indicando baixa probabilidade de deliberacao interna ao forum, mas algum potencial deliberativo quando se adotam lentes mais amplas. Os cruzamentos entre variaveis sugerem que as pessoas tendem a prover mais justificativas em discussoes mais controversas, embora tendam a dialogar menos nesses casos. Assim, a hipotese da preferencia por conversas entre like-minded encontra respaldo nos dados analisados.