Debate, Political Documents and the Democratic Experience

Abstract

The primary and ultimate function of a variety of decision-making bodies in democratic regimes is not only to provide the legal, but also the legitimate foundations for their decisions. Various types of political debates serve as important research material for understanding the way democratic politics is continuously constituted and re-shaped. Likewise, the contents of political documents can be considered fundamental sources for the study of political deliberation in democratic regimes. However, it is much less evident what kind of rhetoric, in what form, by whom and to whom, when, with what kind of expectations has been reflected through them and what impacts do they have on the shaping of the democratic experience. Although, at one side, the study of deliberation in political sciences is nowadays very fashionable, on the other, the perception of the (non)relevance of studying political rhetoric and documents as the prerequisites and results of this same deliberation are much more vague. Aiming to discuss how various approaches and forms of political deliberation can be perceived in regard to contemporary democratic polity and policy-making processes, this panel welcomes papers with theoretical, historical or more empirical approaches that concentrate on conceptualisations and/or operationalisations of political debate and experiences in any type of representative, association or other political body form of interaction.