TY - JOUR
T1 - Deliberation in the wilderness
T2 - Displacing symbolic politics
AU - Niemeyer, Simon
PY - 2004/6/1
Y1 - 2004/6/1
N2 - The environmental benefits of deliberative democracy are increasingly cited, but not well understood. Nor are the processes involved in arriving at deliberated policy preferences in contrast to those under the status quo. Analysis of the Far North Queensland Citizens' Jury (FNQCJ) reveals that the difference reflects as much a move away from a non-deliberative status quo as toward a deliberative ideal. Before deliberation, symbolic arguments proffered by political interests resulted in deep fracturing of an underlying environmental consensus. The deliberative process served to dissipate symbolic claims, liberating citizens to formulate their own judgements based largely on this pre-existing environmental concern. The findings suggest a focus for deliberative democracy in displacing symbolic politics that disenfranchises both nature and humans.
AB - The environmental benefits of deliberative democracy are increasingly cited, but not well understood. Nor are the processes involved in arriving at deliberated policy preferences in contrast to those under the status quo. Analysis of the Far North Queensland Citizens' Jury (FNQCJ) reveals that the difference reflects as much a move away from a non-deliberative status quo as toward a deliberative ideal. Before deliberation, symbolic arguments proffered by political interests resulted in deep fracturing of an underlying environmental consensus. The deliberative process served to dissipate symbolic claims, liberating citizens to formulate their own judgements based largely on this pre-existing environmental concern. The findings suggest a focus for deliberative democracy in displacing symbolic politics that disenfranchises both nature and humans.
KW - deliberative democracy
KW - environmental governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3042693378&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0964401042000209612
DO - 10.1080/0964401042000209612
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:3042693378
SN - 0964-4016
VL - 13
SP - 347
EP - 372
JO - Environmental Politics
JF - Environmental Politics
IS - 2
ER -