Open Constitutional Democracy: Reconciling Deliberation and Constitutional Democracy
This Trans-Atlantic Platform project explores the crucial question of how contemporary theories of deliberative democracy can be reconciled with foundational constitutional institutions, including judicial review, the separation of powers, and bills of rights. Led by co-Principal Investigators Dr David Vitale (University of Warwick), Dr Michael Pal (University of Ottawa), and Dr Odile Ammann (University of Lausanne), the project is co-funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
In response to the phenomenon of democratic decline, widespread loss of political trust, and failures of governance globally, democratic reform and innovation are of paramount importance. Theories of deliberative democracy have been particularly significant in this area, reshaping how democratic legitimacy is understood. In deliberative accounts, legitimacy is linked to citizen participation, with decision-making processes only considered legitimate to the extent that they incorporate meaningful, “deliberative” participation by those subject to the decision. The most influential theory of deliberative democracy currently is what Hélène Landemore labels “Open Democracy”. Open Democracy prioritises participation by citizens, who are given the opportunity to temporarily wield legislative power in the form of randomly selected “mini-publics” tasked with deliberating on political issues. Theorists of Open Democracy, however, have not adequately specified how their model can co-exist with the foundational institutions of constitutional democracies that are necessary for rights protection and effective governance. And without further detail on the constitutional, legal, and institutional dimensions of Open Democracy, the theory has an unclear future as a model for reform.
To address this, the project will (i) develop a theory of “Open Constitutional Democracy” that enhances democratic participation while continuing to respect the need to disperse power, ensure political accountability, and secure minority rights, (ii) build an innovative and trust-based model of democracy and governance that is in line with our theory of “Open Constitutional Democracy”, and (iii) theorise the role of public education, including the social right to education, in such an “Open Constitutional Democracy”.
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