Harding Criticizing the Logic of Democratic theory
August 18, 2021 09:30 Source: "China Social Sciences", August 18, 2021, Issue 2232 Author: Cao Qin

In a sense,The research on negotiation democracy has become "the most popular approach of democratic theorists in our time"。But the contemporary American political theorist Russell Hardin seems,Theorists often only pay attention to negotiating democracy "How to operate",Not it "how it is actually used in a real society"。For some common reasons for defense for negotiation democracy,Hardin proposed criticism。

Defense for "Epistemic) of negotiation democracy -negotiation helps to discover the truth,Hardin expressed doubt。

He pointed out,In political life,For this kind of "truth" to be discovered,There may be different understanding。People want to discover,It may be a normative truth about the "best lifestyle" or "the best way to organize the government"。But,Hardin believes that there is no such "truth" at all。On the issue of value and purpose,Maybe people will reach a consensus in the future,Maybe most people choose or support certain specific values ​​and purposes。but,This is not an inevitable thing。So,found here,Not the "truth",It's just a vote that people take on their own interests。The negotiation can be discovered,How serious is our differences on goal issues。There are also some negotiated democratic theories who seem to think,bet365 Play online games The conclusion obtained through negotiation,It constitutes "the truth about legitimacy and justice"。Danhadin pointed out,This statement actually confuses "facts" and "value",No distinction between "truth about means" and "truth about the purpose"。

The second understanding of the positive relationship between negotiation and truth,The truth that can be discovered through the negotiation,Limited in the "objective" fact。This view is considered,Consultation may help us discover the facts of "causality",Therefore, under the premise of determining the goal,Better grasp of means to help achieve those goals。Danhadin pointed out,If the role of negotiation is understood as the discovery of the opposite method,So,Negotiations that can get the best effect,It should be a negotiation between experts in related fields。Whether it is the general public,It is still a public office personnel who are elected,The back of the expert cannot be seen in professionalism。Obviously,This facts are contradictory between the facts of contemporary mainstream negotiation democracy。No matter what the democratic thesis is negotiated, the negotiations that the people are deeply participated,It is still negotiation in public power such as legislators,They generally regard negotiation as a citizenship political activity,so。Therefore,The negotiation they respect seems to be different from the pure "purpose -means" Bet365 app download reasoning,The significance of this negotiation should not be a means of discovering instrumental。

This criticism of negotiation democracy,A common reason for support is: the knowledge that voters have for political affairs are limited,It can even be said to be a serious deficiency。Hardin emphasized this。He thinks,If we look at democracy from the perspective of pragmatism rather than idealism,You must admit,Results obtained by statistics based on data,The political knowledge of voters is extremely scarce。Even citizens who actively care and participate in politics,It is also easy to have wrong views in some simple facts。This is not surprising。After all,In modern country,Citizens cannot participate in the governance of all issues。

From the perspective of Hardin,People's ignorance of political knowledge,Not only rational,And it is not violated with morals。The reason why this ignorance is rational,It is due to the influence of a single voter on the results of the election.。Therefore,Citizen invested a lot of time and energy to study political issues,Is it lost。Of course,The prerequisite for saying is,The only motivation for citizens to care about politics is to affect the results of the election,and this is not inevitable,Ordinary citizens have no doubt other motivations。Danhadin thinks,Even if a citizen does not care about politics,It does not mean that he should be condemned。"In addition to studying knowledge bet365 live casino games about political and political possibilities,Most people can use their time to do more valuable things,Including things worthy of praise。”

Not only that,Even when we turn our attention from individual citizens to the government,Political participation is not always desirable。In most cases,It is more likely to promote the interests of citizens,In fact, it is a good group of politicians and organizations,instead of those citizens who happen to have the same interests and ideals with you。If we accept these views of Hardin,It seems that there is a reason to think,If the goal of negotiating between ordinary citizens is set as "find the most suitable means to achieve the established purpose",So,This goal is unrealistic,or although feasible but not necessary。

Hardin quoted Manning's theory,It is believed that the traditional agency democracy has been transformed into "audience -like democracy" in the late late late。An important phenomenon caused by this audience -like democracy is,"Social and economic status will no longer determine the voting mode"。Voters no longer vote for their judgment on their specific political parties or campaign programs,Instead of voting according to the impression of individual candidates (such as the image seen on TV)。With the development of audience -style democracy,The theme of political discussion is often set by politicians,Voters are just watching and listening。The further result of this change bet365 Play online games is,The opposite political parties are no longer the maintenancers and representatives of the interests of a specific voter group。For example,Different parties become increasingly the same as economic policy,As a result, some groups were abandoned,And some other groups have established a good relationship with all political parties。These changes are together with voters' difficulties in obtaining information,It makes it difficult for them to participate in voting and negotiation based on interests。From this,Hardin's conclusion,The rise of the core concept of negotiated democracy "It's too late for us",Because "listener democracy" has almost eliminated the applicationability of negotiation democracy。

Harding is criticizing the theory of negotiated democracy,pointed out some of the problems it faces,Especially remind people not to have too much optimism and idealism of it。That's for this,His discussion has a certain positive significance。but,His criticism also has some problems。

First,For the two concepts of "participation" and "negotiation",He did not make enough clear distinction。This has caused many of his criticisms to be more suitable for participating democracy,Not applicable to all forms of negotiation democracy。This will undoubtedly greatly reduce the strength of its demonstration。and,Many criticisms in Hardin (the most typical example is the analysis of ignorant voters),Rather than a Bet365 lotto review specific type of democracy,It is better to say that it is the democratic system itself。So,His criticism cannot indicate what disadvantages of negotiation democracy compared to other forms of democracy,Instead, it indirectly proves the necessity of supplementing the existing democratic practice with negotiation。

Next,For the existing democratic system and democratic practice of Western countries,Hardin often performs too much on the status quo。This attitude is sometimes reflected in a negative form (for example, it is believed that citizens are facing too difficult for the negotiation),Sometimes it is reflected in a positive form (for example, it is reasonable to think that citizens lack political participation,It is even conducive to government operation)。But he ignored the possibility of negotiating at a higher level level,It also ignored the disadvantages of low participation democracy in reality,and the ability to exercise citizens for negotiated democracy、The role of improving mutual understanding and maintaining public interest is too pessimistic。Therefore,Harding criticism, although pointed out some problems in practice in practice,But it has not fundamentally eliminated the significance and role of negotiation democracy。

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