Let’s Try Real Democracy

This chapter lays out a general theoretical case for democracy, specifically the kind of democracy that democratic theorists call “deliberative democracy,” which traces the legitimacy of laws and policies to the reasoned exchange of arguments among free and equal citizens. The chapter shows the benefits of distributing political decision-power in an inclusive and egalitarian manner, especially in the deliberative phase of the legislative process. The core idea is that many minds deliberating together are better than few when it comes to dealing with the uncertainty and complexity of the world and figuring out solutions that work for all within it.