Deliberative democracy fails without material equality among participants

Evidence

Deliberation works best where there is adequate representation, or inclusion, of affected interests and mutual respect among the participants. Where material inequalities exist or where representation is flawed or nominal, a deliberative process can suffer from illegitimacy in its outcomes as much as a pluralistic process can. Similarly, too much participation, or unwieldy and unorganized participation, can be as destructive to deliberation as too little participation. … It is only when participants respect and engage other viewpoints that they can shape dialogue and move toward a consensus. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 522

Categorization

• XREF: The admission that deliberation can be as illegitimate as pluralism under material inequality is the crux for the legal-systems course on why procedure cannot cure substantive injustice. — connects to: Advisory committees can exclude the affected community from representation entirely; Racial mismatch between community and decision makers drives deliberative failure; Formal legal procedure protects minorities better than informal deliberation does — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 549 (+7 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 522

Broader Connections

• Formal political equality masks deep economic servitude that hollows out democracy #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 406
• Deliberative inclusion in civil society lacks force without state institutionalization #corroborates (0.75) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 695
• Substantive democracy in a caste society requires deliberately equalizing the value of devalued citizens #corroborates (0.72) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1321
• Substantive democracy required deliberately raising the political value of devalued Untouchables #corroborates (0.72)