A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
From the Democracy of Opinions to the Democracy of Procedures (2023)

Palonen, K. (2023). From the Democracy of Opinions to the Democracy of Procedures. In E. Lagerspetz, & O. Pulkkinen (Eds.), Between Theory and Practice : Essays on Criticism and Crises of Democracy (pp. 221-238). Palgrave Macmillan. Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41397-1_10

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Palonen, Kari

Parent publication: Between Theory and Practice : Essays on Criticism and Crises of Democracy

Parent publication editors: Lagerspetz, Eerik; Pulkkinen, Oili

ISBN: 978-3-031-41396-4

eISBN: 978-3-031-41397-1

Journal or series: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century

ISSN: 2946-3416

eISSN: 2946-3424

Publication year: 2023

Pages range: 221-238

Number of pages in the book: 296

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Place of Publication: Cham

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41397-1_10

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Abstract

What is represented in the democratic style of politics? There are two opposed visions to this question. One is based on the opinions of citizens, which are then transferred to political decisions in elections and parliamentary resolutions. The opposite view uses questions on the political agenda as the point of departure and regards both election campaigns and parliamentary debate as procedures to modify the given opinions towards forming political alternatives to the agenda. In the former view, the latter might appear as a disturbance of citizens’ opinions; in the latter, the former could be understood to lack political literacy in the face of the issues on the agenda. In the former view, political questions are simple and immediately decidable; in the latter, on the contrary, political questions are complex and require both time for reflection and willingness to consider opposed alternatives. In this chapter, as a continuation of my studies on parliamentary politics and Max Weber’s thinking, I present a thought experiment with historical references and take a clear stand in favour of the procedural style of democracy.

Keywords: politics; political research; political culture; politicians; democracy; parliamentary work; opinions

Free keywords: debate; opinion; parliament; politics; procedure; representation

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 3