Democratic Participation, Engagement, and Freedom

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)
    1379 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    It is commonly supposed that democracies should encourage greater political participation and civic engagement. This article identifies two distinct perspectives on political participation and civic engagement: a ‘freedom-centred’ model and an ‘ethical’ model. The ‘freedom-centred’ model defended here draws on the republican concept of freedom as non-domination, together with the political liberal notion of fair deliberative proceduralism, while the ethical model draws on Aristotelian, perfectionist, sources. It is argued that the ‘ethical’ model is overly concerned with the ‘moral renewal’ of modern social life, and is insensitive to problems of domination posed by its account of civic reciprocity and trust. By contrast, the ‘freedom-centred’ model developed offers a systematic account of personal and political freedom, which provides qualified support for deliberative modes of participation and engagement.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)493-508
    JournalBritish Journal of Politics and International Relations
    Volume15
    Issue number4
    Early online date04 May 2012
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2013

    Bibliographical note

    This paper, arising our of work done on the FP7 Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation (PIDOP) project, was published online on 4 May 2012.

    Keywords

    • freedom
    • participation
    • reciprocity
    • trust

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Political Science and International Relations
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Democratic Participation, Engagement, and Freedom'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this