Deliberative Politics in Action Analyzing Parliamentary Discourse

Stressing the role of conversation, argument and negotiation in politics, particularly in democratic government, this book offers an empirical study of deliberative politics. Using the parliamentary debates in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States as an empirical base, the authors measure the level of deliberation by constructing a discourse quality index, characterized by a high inter-coder reliability.

'Deliberative politics' refers to the role of conversation and arguments in politics. Until recently discussion of deliberative politics took place almost exclusively among political philosophers, but many questions raised in this philosophical discussion cry out for empirical investigation. This book provides the first extended empirical study of deliberative politics, addressing, in particular, questions of the preconditions and consequences of high level deliberation. Using parliamentary debates in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States as an empirical base, the authors measure the level of deliberation by constructing a 'Discourse Quality Index'. As deliberative politics moves to the forefront of political theory, this book makes an important contribution to deliberative democracy.

Introduction: the research questions; 1. Institutions and behaviour: the example of consociational theory; 2. The philosophical literature on deliberative politics; 3. Measuring deliberation: a Discourse Quality Index; 4. Understanding the real world of deliberation: hypotheses about antecedents and consequences; 5. The institutional antecedents of discourse; 6. Discourse and its consequences; Conclusion and research outlook; Appendix: Discourse Quality Index (DQI).

This study of deliberative politics provides the first extended empirical analysis of the role of conversation and arguments in politics. Examining parliamentary debates in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, the authors measure the preconditions and consequences of high level deliberation.

Jürg Steiner is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of Bern. He is also Swiss Chair at the European University Institute in Florence.
André Bächtiger is Swiss Chair Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence.
Markus Spörndli is at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
Marcus R. Steenbergen is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.