Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation

Deliberative Democracy is a practical method of decision going back to the Athenians. This book draws on practical experiments around the world to show how democracy can make a better connection to citizen voices in a scientifically based, thoughtful way. It draws on the author’s experiments around the world in 27 countries. In doing so it deals with the full range of problems facing modern democracies and charts a specific remedy, applied already in specific cases in every inhabited continent. The book deals with democratic theory, the contemporary challenge of populism, distrust of elites, the vagaries of public opinion. It is directed at anyone interested in the challenges facing modern democracies and how they can be dealt with.