Presentation short abstract

The importance of deliberation in participatory planning schemes has become increasingly recognized, particularly as societies grapple with the complexities of environmental and social challenges in the form of uncertainty and cognitive limitations.

Presentation long abstract

In recent years, the importance of deliberation in participatory planning schemes has become increasingly recognized, particularly as societies grapple with the complexities of environmental and social challenges. The talk will begin with a brief introduction to the participatory planning approach and will argue that deliberation is essential for a successful process. This stands in contrast to formal democracy, where the preferences, values, and interests of different agents are aggregated through a voting mechanism, on two grounds: a) The aggregation system is susceptible to manipulation since it is technically flawed in finding an appropriate way to construct social outcomes from individual positions. b) The aggregation mechanism eliminates the possibility of public reasoning.

Following this, the talk will focus on two key requirements: a) Achieving a broad consensus on which stakeholders to include in the decision-making process and how to weight their inputs. b) Ensuring equal recognition and power (economic, social, and political) among participants while also fostering reciprocity.

Finally, the talk will assert that since deliberative democracy prioritizes the process itself, procedural rationality must also be defended. Given the inherent uncertainty and cognitive limitations involved (especially on environmental issues), the methods by which policies are designed are of paramount importance. The talk will conclude by highlighting that public reasoning through mutual understanding is a prerequisite for a healthy public sphere.