Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Search for Deliberative Democracy in China pp 77–111Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Human Nature, Communication, and Culture: Rethinking Democratic Deliberation in China and the West

  • Chapter

Abstract

Over the last two decades there has been a tremendous growth of interest in alternative forms of democratic governance. This is true in the Western established democracies and in some nondemocratic societies, particularly China. Although the motivating concerns diverge in these two cases, both appear to be moving in the same direction—that of exploring more participatory and deliberative forms of democracy. My aim in this chapter is to explore critically the dominant Western conception of deliberative democracy and, in this light, consider its applicability both in a Western setting and in China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Works Cited

  • Abelson, Robert P., Eliot Aronson, William J. McGuire, Theodore M. Newcomb, Morris J. Rosenberg, and Phillip H. Tannenbaum eds. 1968. Theories of Cognitive Consistency: A Sourcebook. Chicago, IL: McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bales, R.F., and T. Parsons. 1955. Family, Socialization and Interaction Process. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, Daniel. 2004. “A Confucian Democracy for the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Deliberative Democracy and Chinese Practices of Participatory and Deliberative Institutions, Hangzhou, China, November 18–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib, Seyla. 1996. “Toward a Deliberative Model of Democratic Legitimacy.” In Seyla Benhabib, ed., Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 67–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib, Seyla. 2002. The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohman, James. 1996. Public Deliberation: Pluralism, Complexity, and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohman, James. 1997. “Deliberative Democracy and Effective Social Freedom: Capabilities, Resources, and Opportunities.” In James Bohman and William Rehg, eds., Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge: MIT Press, 321–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Sylvia. 2003. “Villagers’ Representative Assemblies: Toward Democracy or Centralism?” China: An International Journal 1(2): 179–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Joshua. 1996. “Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy.” In Seyla Benhabib, ed., Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 95–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Joshua. 1997. “Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy.” In James Bohman and William Rehg, eds., Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 67–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimitracopoulou, I. 1990. Conversational Competence and Social Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dryzek, John. 2000. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, and Contestations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fung, Archon, and E.O. Wright. 2003. Deepening Democracy: Institutional Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann, Amy, and D. Thompson. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann, Amy, and D. Thompson. 2004. Why Deliberative Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jurgen. 1979. “Moral Development and Ego Identity.” In Communication and the Evolution of Society. Boston, MA: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jurgen. 1984–1987. The Theory of Communicative Action: Volumes 1 & 2. Boston, MA: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jurgen. 1996. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • He, Baogang. 2004. “Chinese Practices of Deliberative and Participatory Institutions.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Deliberative Democracy and Chinese Practices of Participatory and Deliberative Institutions, Hangzhou, China, November 18–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heider, F. 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Inhelder, B., and J. Piaget. 1958. The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence. New York: Basic Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jarboe, Susan. 1999. “Group Communication and Creativity Process.” In Lawrence R. Frey, ed., Handbook of Communication Theory and Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kegan, R. 1994. In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. 1973. “The Processes of Causal Attribution.” American Psychologist 28 (2): 107–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnvall, Catarina. 1995. Cultural Diffusion and Political Learning: The Democratization of China. Lund, Sweden: Lund Political Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, Jack. 1999. “Constitutionalism and Deliberative Democracy.” In S. Macedo, ed., Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement. New York: Oxford University Press, 159–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, Jack, and James Johnson. 1997. “What Sort of Political Equality Does Deliberative Democracy Require?” In James Bohman and William Rehg, eds., Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 279–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. 1981–1984. Essays on Moral Development: Volumes 1 & 2. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendelberg, Tali, and C. Karpowitz. Forthcoming. “How People Deliberate About Justice.” In Shawn W. Rosenberg, ed., Can the People Decide? An Encounter Between Theory and Empirical Research on Democratic Deliberation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, D. and H. Lamm. 1976. “The Group Polarization Phenomenon.” Psychological Bulletin 83: 602–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. 1964. Social Structure and Personality. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. 1970. Structuralism. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Propp, Kathleen M. 1999. “Collective Information Processing in Groups.” In Lawrence R. Frey, ed., Handbook of Group Communication Theory and Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quattrone, G., and A. Tversky. 1984. “Causal Versus Diagnostic Contingencies: On Self-Deception and on the Voter’s Illusion.” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 46(2): 237–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, John. 1993. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, Shawn W. 2002. The Not So Common Sense: Differences in the Way People Judge Social and Political Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, Shawn W. 2003. “Reason, Communicative Competence, and Democratic Deliberation: Do Citizens Have the Capacity To Effectively Participate in Deliberative Decision-Making?” Paper delivered to the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 28–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, Shawn W. Forthcoming. “Types of Discourse and the Democracy of Deliberation.” In Shawn W. Rosenberg, ed., Can the People Decide? An Encounter Between Theory and Empirical Research on Democratic Deliberation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R.L. 1980. The Growth of Interpersonal Understanding: Developmental and Clinical Analyses. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smelsund, J. 1963. “The Concept of Correlation in Adults.” Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 4: 165–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, Qingshan. 2004. “Building Institutional Rules and Procedures: Villages Elections in China.” Policy Sciences 37: 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.E., and Susan T. Fiske. 1975. “Point of View and Perceptions of Causality.” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 32(3): 439–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tversky, A., and Daniel Kahneman. 1982. Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Eugene, OR: Oregon Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L.S. 1962. Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, K.C. Forthcoming. “The Democratic Potential of Civic Dialogue.” In Shawn W. Rosenberg, ed., Can the People Decide? An Encounter Between Theory and Empirical Research on Democratic Deliberation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, Mark. 1992. “Democratic Theory and Self-Transformation.” American Political Science Review 86(1): 8–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, Mark. Forthcoming. “Institutionalizing Deliberative Democracy.” In Shawn W. Rosenberg, ed., Can the People Decide? An Encounter Between Theory and Empirical Research on Democratic Deliberation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, Iris Marion. 1996. In Seyla Benhabib, ed., Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 120–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, Iris Marion. 1999. “Justice, Inclusion, and Deliberative Democracy.” In S. Macedo, ed., Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement. New York: Oxford University Press, 151–58.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Shawn Rosenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Ethan J. Leib Baogang He

Copyright information

© 2006 Ethan J. Leib and Baogang He

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rosenberg, S. (2006). Human Nature, Communication, and Culture: Rethinking Democratic Deliberation in China and the West. In: Leib, E.J., He, B. (eds) The Search for Deliberative Democracy in China. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312376154_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation