Deliberative democracy
Topic: Democracy: Forms of Government, Principles and Outcomes · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Deliberative democracy is a model of democracy in which a decision becomes legitimate (rightly accepted) because free and equal citizens discussed it and gave reasons. Counting votes alone is not enough. Amartya Sen calls this "government by discussion". Class 10 makes a related point: discussion takes time, but people accept the decisions more readily.
Example
The RTI Act 2005 grew out of public debate. MKSS held public hearings (jan sunwai) in Rajasthan where villagers questioned spending records. Lawmakers then added safeguards for security and efficiency before passing the law.
Don't confuse with
- Direct democracy: here citizens vote on decisions themselves. Deliberative democracy cares about how a decision is reached, through reasoned discussion. It can work through elected representatives too.