The “Tea party” on deliberative models of democracy from the perspective of the left

“Thinking about deliberative models of democracy from the perspective of the left: Theoretical and empirical insights”, is the title of the lecture by Dr. Irene Fiket, on November 2 at 12 in the Main hall of IDN. The lecture is part of Regional Tea Party lecture series titles “Left”.

In recent years, the promotion of various deliberative institutions has become more and more widespread and intensive. A large number of more or less stable democratic states develop and introduce deliberative institutions at different levels of government, local, national, and supranational. Hence, the theoretical consideration of the advantages and expediency of introducing deliberative models of political decision-making passed, after the experimentation phase, into the defacto institutionalization of deliberation.

Deliberative institutions – created as a response to the crises of representative democracy, to its increasingly evident inability to respond to the needs of citizens and to connect with them – today promise exactly that: the resolution of crises and the citizen’s return to political life. What problems arise in this process and what challenges do deliberative institutions face are questions that Irena Fiket will try to answer.

A special focus will be placed on the meaning and efficiency of deliberative institutions and deliberative systems in conditions of structural inequalities of contemporary societies and while facing the realities of unequal power relations.

Dr. Irena Fiket is a senior research associate and academic coordinator of the Laboratory for Active Citizenship at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade. Her current research interests are deliberative democracy, civic participation, democratic innovation, social movements and gender equality. She published a book, book chapters and articles in prestigious international journals on these topics. She participated in numerous international projects and currently works as the academic coordinator of the Jean Monnet network ”Active citizenship: promoting and advancing innovative democratic practices in the Western Balkans”