Beyond epistemology and freedom: A deliberative democratic model to promote popular participation

espanolEn este articulo se analiza en profundidad uno de los principales problemas relacionados con las democracias actuales: el equilibrio entre beneficios epistemicos y libertad individual. Profundizamos en este debate partiendo de las diversas criticas que historicamente se han planteado contra la democracia y presentando la democracia deliberativa como alternativa. Dentro del extenso debate democratico deliberativo, varios autores como Christiano Mansbridge o Helene Landemore han propuesto puntos de vista que no cumplen con los estandares logicos y participativos que se esperan de un sistema democratico. Realizamos un analisis de estas propuestas reflexionando sobre sus puntos debiles y consecuencias. Ademas, vinculamos estos puntos de vista a la discusion sobre el papel que los ciudadanos deberian jugar en cualquier sistema democratico. Concluimos que la perspectiva epistemica, la mas comun en la democracia deliberativa, pasa por alto los derechos basicos inherentes a cualquier individuo y socava la capacidad de una poblacion de prosperar y desarrollar su cultura de manera conjunta. Por ello, proponemos un modelo flexible donde cualquier conjunto de ciudadanos tenga una sustancial igualdad de oportunidades para proponer alternativas a las normas vigentes y convencer a la mayoria de la poblacion de modificarlas. Este modelo se centra principalmente en las interacciones entre los individuos y las instituciones estatales. EnglishIn this article we thoroughly analyse one of the major problems related to current democracies, the balance between epistemic benefits and individual freedom. We dive into this debate departing form the various criticisms historically made against democracy and presenting deliberative democracy as an alternative. This article thoroughly analyzes one of the major problems of current democracies, the balance between epistemic benefits and individual freedom. We dive into this debate departing from the various criticisms that have been historically made against democracy and presenting deliberative democracy as an alternative. Within the long deliberative democratic debate, several authors such as Christiano Mansbridge or Helene Landemore have proposed views that fail to meet the logical and participatory standards expected from a democratic system. We carry out an analysis on these proposals reflecting on their weak points and consequences. In addition, we link these views to the discussion about the role citizens should play in any democratic system. It is concluded that the most common view held about democracy, the epistemic centred one, overlooks basic rights inherent to any individual and undermines the ability of a population to jointly thrive and develop its culture. This is the reason why we propose a flexible model where any group of citizens has substantial equality of opportunities to propose alternatives to the current norms and laws and convince the majority of the population to change them. This model has been mainly focused on the interactions between individuals and state institutions.