The Deliberative Impulse

Reviews / Votes

Andrew Smith offers a propitious new way to think about the meaning and importance of living according to conscience. His book speaks to people's deepest convictions, extending an uplifting case in favor of more and better deliberation among divided citizens in pluralistic societies. -- Lucas Swaine, Dartmouth College Deliberative democrats have won the day among democratic theorists. But it is not clear that deliberative democracy can succeed among democratic citizens, especially in light of the fact that many deliberative views require citizens to deliberate with their political opponents. Hence there is a serious practical concern about deliberative democracy: How can citizens be encouraged to deliberate together, despite their substantive moral and political differences? In this engaging book, Andrew Smith takes up this practical challenge. Drawing on an attractive conception of conscience, Smith makes a case for thinking that our fundamental desire to live in accordance with our deep convictions provides us with a compelling incentive to publicly deliberate. This book makes an important contribution to the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. -- Robert B. Talisse In this highly original book, Smith asks an important question that remains in the background for most theories of deliberative democracy. It is the question of genuine inclusion: how is it that that those who are disenfranchized can come to see themselves as full participants? -- James Bohman, Saint Louis University