Making Deliberative Democracy Practical: Public Consultation and Dispute Resolution

Deliberative democracy is a form of alternative dispute resolution. Consulting the public in a thoughtful and representative way can lead to consequential public policy outcomes that might otherwise have been difficult to achieve. However, some recent literature appears to treat deliberative democracy and alternative dispute resolution as rivals.! While there are differences in emphasis and in theoretical preoccupations between the two, there are also some overlapping aims and methods. In this article I will fIrst consider methods to consult the public and discuss some criteria that might be applied to distinguish among these methods. I will argue that there are good reasons to favor an approach anchored in deliberative democracy. Second, I will offer some ways of distinguishing deliberative democracy from other democratic approaches. Third, I will respond to some of the confusing claims at issue between deliberative democracy and alternative dispute resolution. Finally, I will discuss a particular policy area to illustrate how deliberative democracy can have a demonstrable impact. Using that illustration, I will show how some of the practices common in alternative dispute resolution fInd a natural ally in the deliberative democracy approach.