Authoritarian Deliberation: Public Deliberation in China
Jiang, M. (2008). Authoritarian deliberation: Public deliberation in China. New Media and the Social Reform (pp. 273-290). Proceedings of the 2008 Global Communication Forum, Shanghai, China, 21-22, June, 2008. Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
33 Pages Posted: 6 Sep 2010 Last revised: 15 Jan 2014
Date Written: June 1, 2008
Abstract
Public deliberation has long been recognized as a cornerstone of participatory democracy and representative government. However, its potential in non-democratic societies is largely unrealized. The paper draws on Western theories of public deliberation and discusses the characteristics of China’s deliberative experience. Online deliberation in both Western and Chinese societies is also considered as an extension of offline activities. The concept of authoritarian deliberation is employed to recognize the substantial amount of public deliberation about policy within an authoritarian state and to distinguish it from that in democratic countries.
Keywords: deliberation, China, government, website, democracy, Internet
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