INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter, self-governing secondary associations were advocated as a mechanism with the ability to help institutionalise deliberative democracy. Providing they are devolved sufficient powers and are based on the norms of deliberative democracy, it was argued that associations could represent their members effectively and contribute to deliberations within the informal public sphere. However, these deliberations within associations and those occurring in the informal public sphere need to be linked to formal, deliberatively democratic, decision-making institutions, in order to ensure both deliberation and democracy are combined. As already highlighted, this book is essentially about decision-making, and if decisions are to cultivate autonomy, then deliberatively democratic decision-making is required. For this to occur, deliberative democracy must be effectively institutionalised, which requires that deliberation and decision-making must be linked: ‘Unless a direct link can be established and maintained between informal deliberation and formal decision-making the decisions made cannot realistically benefit from the legitimacy generated by the deliberation alone’ (Squires 2002: 142; see also Bohman 1996: 177; Dryzek 2000: 2; Leib 2004: 5–6, 39).

If collective deliberation is not linked to decision-making, then the fact that participants' preferences are more prudent seems irrelevant, as autonomy will not be enhanced. If only those in established and elitist representative assemblies, such as parliament, make decisions, then democracy would not be deepened. If deliberation is located only in the informal public sphere, then we must be sceptical as to whether the resulting decisions could be actualised.