Democracy, Agony, and Rupture: A Critique of Climate Citizens' Assemblies.

IF 1.3 4区社会学 Q2 POLITICAL SCIENCE Politische Vierteljahresschrift Pub Date : 2023-03-07 DOI:10.1007/s11615-023-00455-5

Amanda Machin

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Abstract

Stymied by preoccupation with short-term interests of individualist consumers, democratic institutions seem unable to generate sustained political commitment for tackling climate change. The citizens' assembly (CA) is promoted as an important tool in combatting this "democratic myopia." The aim of a CA is to bring together a representative group of citizens and experts from diverse backgrounds to exchange their different insights and perspectives on a complex issue. By providing the opportunity for inclusive democratic deliberation, the CA is expected to educate citizens, stimulate awareness of complex issues, and produce enlightened and legitimate policy recommendations. However, critical voices warn about the simplified and celebratory commentary surrounding the CA. Informed by agonistic and radical democratic theory, this paper elaborates on a particular concern, which is the orientation toward consensus in the CA. The paper points to the importance of disagreement in the form of both agony (from inside) and rupture (from outside) that, it is argued, is crucial for a democratic, engaging, passionate, creative, and representative sustainability politics.

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民主、痛苦和破裂：气候公民大会批判。

由于专注于个人主义消费者的短期利益，民主机构似乎无法为应对气候变化做出持续的政治承诺。公民大会被宣传为对抗这种“民主近视”的重要工具。公民大会的目的是将来自不同背景的具有代表性的公民和专家聚集在一起，就复杂问题交换他们的不同见解和观点。通过提供包容性民主审议的机会，CA有望教育公民，激发对复杂问题的认识，并提出开明和合法的政策建议。然而，批评的声音对围绕CA的简化和庆祝性评论提出了警告。在痛苦和激进的民主理论的指导下，本文阐述了一个特别关注的问题，即CA中的共识方向。文章指出了以痛苦（来自内部）和破裂（来自外部）形式存在分歧的重要性，对于民主、参与、热情、创造性和代表性的可持续发展政治至关重要。

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来源期刊

Politische Vierteljahresschrift POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

15.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： - Für die deutsche Version bitte nach unten scrollen - Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS) (“German Political Science Quarterly”, GPSQ) publishes the latest double-blind peer-reviewed research results from all sub-disciplines of political science. It thus includes original contributions from political theory and the history of ideas, from the analysis and comparison of political systems, from policy analysis, from the field of international relations and foreign policy, from empirical social research and methodology, from political sociology as well as political science pedagogy. The contributions published in PVS come from German or German-speaking political scientists as well as from international political scientists who refer to the German or German-speaking political science. Special Issues Special Issues provide opportunities to contribute to important thematic and/or theoretical developments in political science or its subfields. Regular Calls for Proposals are initiated by the Editors, but potential Guest Editors may also send offers for special issues at any time. Special issues include at least six contributions to be recruited by the Guest Editors, supplemented by an introduction. Most of these contributions are critical papers, but the integration of a literature review and/or one or two research notes is also possible. All contributions need to successfully pass the double-blind peer-review process before publication. The PVS is listed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). ______ Die Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS) – German Political Science Quarterly bietet Raum für neueste Forschungsergebnisse aus allen Teildisziplinen der Politikwissenschaft. Sie beinhaltet doppelblind begutachtete Beiträge aus der Politischen Theorie und Ideengeschichte, aus dem Bereich Analyse und Vergleich politischer Systeme, aus der Policy-Analyse, aus dem Bereich der Internationalen Beziehungen und der Außenpolitik, aus der empirischen Sozialforschung und Methodenlehre, der Politischen Soziologie sowie der Didaktik der Politikwissenschaft. Die in der PVS veröffentlichten Beiträge stammen von deutschen bzw. deutschsprachigen Politikwissenschaftler*innen sowie von internationalen Politikwissenschaftler*innen, die sich mit der deutschen bzw. deutschsprachigen Politikwissenschaft auseinandersetzen. Special Issues Das Special Issue soll die Möglichkeit bieten, auf thematische und theoretische Entwicklungen im Fach insgesamt oder in einzelnen Teildisziplinen zu reagieren, denen eine fachallgemeine Bedeutung zugeschrieben werden kann. Die Redaktion akquiriert mögliche Schwerpunkte eigenständig über entsprechende Call for Proposals, ist aber für entsprechende Initiativen und Vorschläge offen. In Special Issues werden mindestens sechs von Gastherausgeber*innen einzuwerbende Beiträge zusammengefasst und durch eine inhaltliche Einleitung durch die Gastherausgeber*innen ergänzt. Die Beiträge sollen schwerpunktmäßig Abhandlungen sein; es sind aber auch die Integration einer Literaturübersicht und/oder einer bis zwei Research Notes möglich. Veröffentlicht werden ausschließlich Beiträge, die erfolgreich das anonymisierte Gutachter*innenverfahren durchlaufen haben und für eine Veröffentlichung empfohlen wurden. Die PVS wird im Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) erfasst.