Brittain
Iris
Young—Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy
Iris
Young begins her commentary with the distinct tone that the challenge to
include cultural, racial, gender and other differences of a society in “democratic”
decisions is getting such differences to be accounted for at all in
democracy. Her assessment of the form of
“deliberative democracy” currently prevailing in the United States addresses
the inherent problems with general discussion among many. Even if every individual came to the table
and was genuinely interested in speaking about their needs or desires, the
majority will naturally out-vote or speak over minority groups. Democracy in itself is a naturally designed
mechanism of diminishing or granting power to certain groups; regardless of
intentionality, it actively disregards naturally occurring differences
in culture, race, gender etc within a nation. Young goes
on to posit that perhaps a nation can curtail such discrepancies and achieve
the ability to bring the majority group to the table ready to grant
acquisitions to the minority groups.
This would, however, assume that not only human nature, but democracy
itself values listening over speaking. A
greater value in listening comes to a rare selection of the human race, but
within democracy, it is void. Young
points out that the purpose of democracy is to have one’s interests heard,
therefore, the priority is to outshine all others.
To replace this fundamentally flawed
system of discussion, Young posits that a new form of communication is needed
to replace the old one, a new system of governance where it is truly by the people and not simply for some
people. Young aptly does not go into
detail regarding what such a government would look like. I think she does so because she recognizes that such a form of communication requires more voices than
just hers. Her essential concern for the
essay is to recognize that the "Land of
the Free" might not be filled with so much freedom for all.
In democracy's attempt to uphold principles of equality, difference is largely ignored. I appreciate how you catch on to Young's premise of acknowledging and respecting difference within the democratic project. By listening to the interests of minorities a more complete vision of the political body appears. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on how Young would envision interest groups and lobbyists within her deliberative democracy. It seems there is a tension between respecting the views of the many, while at the same time remaining consistent with fundamental democratic values. It is unfortunate that Young does not flesh out her preferred form of government, but it is evident that you captured the essence of what she deems wrong with the current state of democracy in America.
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