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Workshops 1 and 2

Representation and Deliberative Democracy in Europe and North America: Theory, Experiences and Historical perspectives

There is wide agreement that democracy is the only viable legitimation principle in modern societies. At the same time we are constantly reminded of the crisis in representative democracy. These challenges might if anything be compounded by globalization, regionalization (notably the EU) and by exclusion of certain groups of citizens. These developments have given impetus to a renewed interest in deliberative democracy and the public sphere and an attendant quest for deliberative modes of opinion-making and will-formation in both formal political institutions and on different sites and arenas of civil society. Citizens’ assemblies and deliberative polls are held up as some of the institutional mechanisms for harnessing deliberative democracy. Mechanisms for harnessing the public sphere’s democratic potentials are for example (transnational) media debates, story-telling, public protestations, social media and public events locally, nationally, on a European level and globally. It is hardly the case that the standard institutions of representative democracies – elections, party competition and parliaments – are devoid of deliberative qualities of their own. So, are deliberative arenas inside and outside formal representative institutions best understood as substitutes or as complements? What are the democratic potentials of an extra-parliamentarian public? Of a global public sphere? What is the role of public communication in democratic decision-making? Can European publics contribute to the creation of a European demos or a European ‘we-ness’? Are the answers to these questions, in turn, influenced by how far we understand deliberation as directed at a rational consensus and how far we regard it as a means of showing mutual and equal respect for positions that may often be irreducibly different from one another?

Stream 1

Organised by John Erik Fossum (ARENA, University of Oslo)

Thursday 15:00-17:00 (joint session for both streams in Lecture Hall 3)

Lecture Hall 3

Theme: Rethinking Representation

  • Paper presented by Dario Castiglione (University of Exeter): "The Language of Representation in Transformation"
  • Comment by Jane Mansbridge (Harvard University) and general discussion

Friday 10:15-12:00

Lecture Hall 3

  • Erik Oddvar Eriksen and John Erik Fossum (ARENA, Oslo):
    “The representation-deliberation interface”
  • Christopher Lord (ARENA, Oslo):
    “On the value of Parliamentary Representation as a Means of Securing Justification during the Course of Legislation”

Saturday 10:30-12:30

Lecture Hall 1

  • Johannes Pollak (Institute for Advanced Studies / Webster Vienna Private University):
    “Representation and Accountability in the EU”
  • Ben Crum (VUA, Amsterdam):
    “Is there a Role for Political Parties in International Politics?'

Saturday 13.30-15.00

Lecture Hall 1

  • John Erik Fossum (ARENA, Oslo) and David Laycock (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver):
    “Representative democracy in the EU and Canada Compared”
  • Hans-Joerg Trenz (ARENA, Oslo):
    “Representation and the Media”

Stream 2

Organised by Christina Fiig (European Studies, Aarhus University)

Thursday 15:00-17:00 (joint session for both streams in Lecture Hall 3)

Lecture Hall 3

Theme: Rethinking representation

  • Paper presented by Dario Castiglione (University of Exeter): "The Language of Representation in Transformation"
  • Comment by Jane Mansbridge (Harvard University) and general discussion

Friday 10:00 -12:00

Lecture Hall 4

  • Russell Bentley (Southampton University):
    “Powerful Arguments: Exclusion, Power and Rhetoric in Deliberative Democracy”
  • Hélène Landemore (Yale University):
    “Between Burke and the Anti-Federalists: Argument for Descriptive Representation”
  • Maria Svanström (University of Helsinki):
    “Deliberative Democracy and the Ethics of Listening”
  • Marcos Engelken-Jorge (University of the Basque Country):
    “Deliberative Democracy beyond the Citizenry? A Social Learning Perspective on Public Deliberation”

Saturday 10:15 -12:15

Lecture Hall 4

  • Jørn Loftager (Aarhus University):
    “Deliberative Democracy: Attractive but Difficult - A System-theoretical Account”
  • Vilhjálmur Árnason (University of Iceland, Gimli):
    “Renewing Democracy in Iceland”
  • Jón Ólafsson (Bifrost University):
    “The Consequences of Crisis: Politics by other Means”
  • Jenni Rinne (University of Helsinki):
    “Deliberative Theory Visiting Parliamentary Committees in Eduskunta”

12:15-13:15 Lunch

13:15-15:00

Lecture Hall 4

  • Signe Kjær Jørgensen (University of Copenhagen):
    “Legitimising Minorities: What a Headscarf-wearing Muslim Taught us about Political Communication”
  • Acar Kutay (Bergen University):
    “Democratizing EU Governance through Sponsored European Publics: Is it working, and can It Work?”
  • Jan-Henrik Meyer (Aarhus University):
    “Fit for Deliberation? A Historical Perspective on an Emerging European Public Sphere”
  • Mikiko Hosei Eto (Stockholm University):
    “Democracy, Civil Society and the State”