Deliberation Day

Bruce Ackerman author James S Fishkin author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Yale University Press

Published:1st Sep '05

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Deliberation Day cover

Two leading political thinkers offer an audacious proposal to energize the electoral process

Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin argue that Americans can revitalize their democracy and break the cycle of cynical media manipulation that is crippling public life. They propose a new national holiday—Deliberation Day—for each presidential election year. On this day people throughout the country will meet in public spaces and engage in structured debates about issues that divide the candidates in the upcoming presidential election.

Deliberation Day isa bold new proposal, but it builds on a host of smaller experiments. Over the past decade, Fishkin has initiated Deliberative Polling events in the United States and elsewhere that bring random and representative samples of voters together for discussion of key political issues. In these events, participants greatly increase their understanding of the issues and often change their minds on the best course of action.

Deliberation Day isnot merely a novel idea but a feasible reform. Ackerman and Fishkin consider the economic, organizational, and political questions raised by their proposal and explore its relationship to the larger ideals of liberal democracy.

"This lively, fast-moving book is concerned with a serious subject - restoring the health of American democracy.... Fishkin and Ackerman are two of our liveliest and most inventive political and legal thinkers." Alan Ryan, New York Review of Books"

ISBN: 9780300109641

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 386g

198 pages