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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

What deliberative democracy can, and can’t, do (with Jane Mansbridge)

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.610.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Every time I do an episode on polarization, I get a few emails asking: What about deliberative democracy? Couldn’t that be an answer? Deliberative democracy, if you’re not familiar, refers to a broad set of approaches in which citizens get together, with or without their representatives, to deliberate on political questions. Not just vote, or donate money, but actually work through hard questions, in a structured process, together. Jane Mansbridge is the Charles F. Adams professor of political leadership and democratic values at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a past president of the American Political Science Association, and co-editor of the book, Deliberative Systems: Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale. So she’s not just a pioneering theorist on deliberative democracy, she’s specifically studied the question where I’m most skeptical: Can it scale? Book recommendations: Politics with the People: Building a Directly Representative Democracy by Michael A. Neblo Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation by James S. Fishkin Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign by Frances E. Lee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for the show comes from Into the Mix, a Ben and Jerry's podcast about joy and justice, produced with Vox Creative.

0:08.0

As state legislatures consider more than 500 anti-trans bills, the latest episode of Into the Mix asks how best to support and protect transgender youth.

0:19.0

Like Ali Aske, a young man who, despite growing up in a loving and supportive home, felt the need for friendship with other trans and queer kids.

0:27.0

At just seven years old, he took initiative and built a lasting community.

0:32.0

That story on Into the Mix, subscribe now.

0:57.0

Go to chevrelay.com slash electric to learn more.

1:04.0

You jump over it, you incorporate it, you move beyond it, you get to something else.

1:09.0

Well, you can use a citizen body like that, you can say, we're in a jam. Let's bring in a citizen body.

1:15.0

Hello, welcome to Mr. Clanchon, the Vox Media Podcast Network. Before we jump into the episode, if you downloaded the raw-drawer episode from a couple of days ago, which is a great conversation, and I hope you did, or tried to, but you downloaded it and you got just like an audio mess.

1:40.0

We had a crack up in the way that thing got edited and posted and something wasn't muted and so it's just a garble.

1:48.0

We fixed it that same day.

1:50.0

So the one that you would find in your feed now is corrected and all the audio is crystal clear, perfect, beautiful.

1:55.0

You can follow the conversation, which is great.

1:58.0

But if you got the original bad one and didn't look back for another one, please give that a check.

2:03.0

And also, sorry, if it was early in the morning and you were taking the dog for a walk or going to work and you were all excited or somewhat excited and you put that on and it was just whatever it was, you know, technical errors, man, they happen.

2:16.0

So check that out again. It is correct now if you somehow missed it. And if you just missed it because you missed it, it's a, I think a really interesting episode about the Christian, the post-Christian culture wars.

2:27.0

So it's worth checking out.

2:29.0

My guest today is Jane Mansbridge, who is a Harvard professor of political science.

2:34.0

But the reason I wanted her on the show, she's sort of a legend in the study of representative democracy of deliberative democracy.

2:42.0

She is president of the American Political Science Association from 2012 to 2013.

2:46.0

I often get a request from folks in the audience when I talk in the pessimist to play, I do talk about it about polarization.

2:53.0

I've often gotten the request, can you look at deliberative democracy? Isn't one possible answer to polarized politics, a more deliberative democracy, different ways in which we can talk to each other, different ways in which we can talk to representatives.

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