Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:30:53.483Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Deliberative Democratic Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Institutional Empowerment in Three Cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2009

Genevieve Fuji Johnson
Genevieve Fuji Johnson*
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University
*
Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, BC, CanadaV5A 16S, Genevieve_Johnson@sfu.ca.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. Analyzing three timely Canadian cases, this article develops an important relationship between the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. The Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSP), and Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) recently held consultative initiatives appearing to seek the democratic empowerment of citizens. In each case, we see institutional features of deliberative democracy. But only the TCHC's participatory budgeting process begins to fulfill the promise of deliberative empowerment, that is, inclusive, informed, and equal public deliberation focused on a common good at the policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation stages. Why is the case of the TCHC characterized by greater deliberative empowerment than the cases of NSP and the NWMO? I explore possible explanations, all of which focus on the political context in which deliberation takes place. My overarching finding is that the motivation of policy elites within these organizations is key in the deliberative empowerment of citizens at the institutional level. I conclude by identifying factors that might account for the presence or absence of this motivation.

Résumé. En analysant trois cas canadiens opportuns, cet article développe une relation importante entre la théorie et la pratique de la démocratie délibérative. La Société de gestion des déchets nucléaires (SGDN) du Canada, Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSPI) et la Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) ont récemment mis en oeuvre des initiatives consultatives qui semblent vouloir donner le pouvoir démocratique délibératif aux citoyens. Dans chaque cas, on observe des caractéristiques institutionnelles représentant les valeurs d'une démocratie délibérative. Mais le processus budgétaire participatif de la TCHC est le seul qui commence à tenir les promesses d'une prise de pouvoir délibérative, caractérisée par une délibération inclusive, informée et égalitaire, axée sur un bien commun, aux étapes de la formulation, de la mise en oeuvre et de l'évaluation d'une politique. Pourquoi le cas de la TCHC atteste-t-il d'une plus grande prise de pouvoir délibérative que ceux de NSPI et de la SGDN? J'explore des explications possibles, qui sont toutes centrées sur le contexte politique dans lequel survient la délibération. En général, je constate que la motivation des élites politiques à l'intérieur de ces organisations est primordiale pour la prise de pouvoir délibérative des citoyens au niveau institutionnel. En conclusion, j'identifie les facteurs pouvant justifier la présence ou l'absence de cette motivation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 679 - 703
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, Mariam, TCHC tenant and CHU council representative. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Advisory Council member, NWMO. 2005. Telephone interview with author, October 5. Toronto.Google Scholar
Assembly of First Nations (AFN). 2005. Nuclear Fuel Waste Dialogue: Phase II Regional Forums Summary Report, submitted to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Ballantyne, Derek, CEO, TCHC. 2007. Interview with author, August 14. Toronto.Google Scholar
Benhabib, Seyla. ed. 1996. Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Thomas. 2005. Comments on NWMO's Consultation Process. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Board member, TCHC. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Cameron, Bruce. Nova Scotia Department of Energy. 2007. Interview with author, June 11. Halifax.Google Scholar
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). 2003. “Democracy Counts! Participatory Budgeting in Canada and Abroad,” Alternative Federal Budget 2003 Technical Paper #4.Google Scholar
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA). 1998. Nuclear Fuel Waste Management and Disposal Concept: Report of the Nuclear Fuel Waste Management and Disposal Concept. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.Google Scholar
Carpini, Michael X. Delli, Cook, Fay Lomax and Jacobs, Lawrence R.. 2004. “Public Deliberation, Discursive Participation, and Citizen Engagement: A Review of the Empirical Literature.” Annual Review of Political Science 7: 315–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Simone. 1996. Reasonable Democracy: Jürgen Habermas and the Politics of Discourse. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Simone. 2003. “Deliberative Democratic Theory.” Annual Review of Political Science 6: 307–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHU manager, TCHC. 2007. Interview with author, August 14. Toronto.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joshua. 1997a. “Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy.” In Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, ed. Bohman, James and Rehg, William. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joshua. 1997b. “Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy.” In Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, ed. Bohman, James and Rehg, William. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joshua and Fung, Archon. 2004. “Radical Democracy.” Swiss Journal of Political Science 4: 169–80.Google Scholar
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP). 2005. Understanding the Choices: Summary of Key Observations Regarding NWMO Discussion. Document 2. Ottawa: CAP.Google Scholar
Consumer advocate # 1. 2007. Interview with author, June 11. Halifax.Google Scholar
Consumer advocate # 2. 2007. Interview with author, June 12. Halifax.Google Scholar
Corporate Research Associates. 2005. NSPI Customer Energy Forum 2005. Halifax.Google Scholar
Customer Energy Forum moderator, 2007. Interview with author, June 13. Halifax.Google Scholar
Dowdeswell, Elizabeth, President, NWMO. 2005. Interview with author, June 6. Toronto.Google Scholar
DPRA 2004. Final Report: National Stakeholders and Regional Dialogue Sessions. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John. 1990. Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dryzek, John. 2000. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Employee, Assembly of First Nations. 2005. Interview with author, October 13. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Employee, Conserve Nova Scotia. 2007. Interview with author, June 12. Halifax.Google Scholar
Employee, Nova Scotia Power. 2007. Interview with author, June 11. Halifax.Google Scholar
Employee, Toronto Community Housing Corporation. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Fishkin, James. 2004. “Deliberative Polling: Toward a Better-Informed Democracy.” http://cdd.stanford.edu/polls/docs. Accessed on March 11, 2008.Google Scholar
Fishkin, James and Farrar, Cynthia. 2005. “Deliberative Polling: From Experiment to Community Resource” In The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the 21st Century. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Freeman, Allan. 2000. “Deliberative Democracy.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 29 (4): 371–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fung, Archon and Wright, Erik Olin, eds. 2003. Deepening Democracy: Institutional Innovation in Empowered Participatory Governance. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Gastil, John and Levine, Peter, ed. 2005. The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the 21st Century. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Guild, Will, Lehr, Ron and Thomas, Dennis. 2004. “Nova Scotia Power, Customer Energy Forum: Summary of Results.” Nova Scotia Power: Halifax.Google Scholar
Gutmann, Amy and Thompson, Dennis. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gutmann, Amy and Thompson, Dennis. 2004. Why Deliberative Democracy? Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajer, Maarten and Wagenaar, Hendrik, ed. 2003. Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haley, Brendan. Energy Action Centre, energy co-ordinator. 2007. Interview with author, June 12. Halifax.Google Scholar
Hardy, Dave, Principal, Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited, 2005. Interview with author, September 30. Toronto.Google Scholar
Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited. 2005. Final Report: National Stakeholders and Regional Dialogue Sessions. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Harley, Mary Lou, Member of the Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Nuclear Wastes Writing Team, the United Church of Canada. 2005. Response to Email questionnaire with author, 4 August.Google Scholar
Janes, Gracia. 2005. “Comments on the NWMO Draft Management Plan for Nuclear Waste.” Ottawa: National Council of Women of Canada.Google Scholar
Johnson, Gail. TCHC community health consultant. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Johnson, Genevieve Fuji. 2008. Deliberative Democracy for the Future: The Case of Nuclear Waste Management in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneen, Soha, co-ordinator of the National Inuit Specific Dialogue, Environment Department, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. 2005. Interview with author, May 9. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Lang, Amy. 2007. “But Is It for Real? The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly as a Model of State-Sponsored Citizen Empowerment.” Politics and Society 35: 35–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, Josh and Van Wagner, Estair. 2006. Participatory Budgeting in Canada: Democratic Innovations in Strategic Spaces. Transnational Institute, February.Google Scholar
Leslie, Megan, community legal worker, Dalhousie Legal Aid. 2007. Telephone interview with author, August 20. Halifax.Google Scholar
Lipp, Judith, advisory board member, Customer Energy Forum. 2007. Interview with author, June 17. Halifax.Google Scholar
Member, NWMO Advisory Council. 2005. Telephone interview with author, October 5.Google Scholar
Milton, Penny, TCHC board member. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Mutton, John, Mayor of Clarington and chair of Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities. 2005. Interview with author, June 7. Clarington, ON.Google Scholar
Nova Scotia Power (NSP). 2004. Customer Energy Forum 2004: Final Report. Halifax.Google Scholar
Nova Scotia Power (NSP). 2005. “Nova Scotia Power Acts on Customer Advice, Proposes $5 Million More for Conservation.” News release. Halifax. June 28.Google Scholar
Nova Scotia Power (NSP). 2008. “Nova Scotia Power Proposes Conservation and Energy Efficiency Plan.” News release. Halifax. January 31.Google Scholar
Nova Scotia Power (NSP). 2009. Backgrounder on Key Renewable Milestones. Halifax.Google Scholar
Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). 2006. “Application by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated for approval of certain revisions to its rates, charges, and regulations.”Google Scholar
Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). 2005. Choosing a Way Forward: The Future Management of Canada's Used Nuclear Fuel. Toronto.Google Scholar
Parkinson, John. 2006. Deliberating in the Real World: Problems of Legitimacy in Deliberative Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parliament of Canada (Thirty-Seventh). 2002. An Act respecting the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Rubin, Norm, director of nuclear research and senior policy analyst, Energy Probe. 2005. Interview with author, June 8. Toronto.Google Scholar
Shoesmith, David and Shemilt, Les. 2003. Excutive Summary: Workshop on the Technical Aspects of Nuclear Fuel Waste Management. NWMO Background Papers and Workshop Reports. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Simpson, Len, mayor of Pinawa. 2005. Telephone interview with author, September 23.Google Scholar
Sousa Santos, Boaventura. 1998. “Parcitipatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre: Toward a Redistributive Democracy.” Politics and Society 26: 461–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, Anna, Kuhn, Richard and Murphy, Brenda. 2005. Choosing a Way Forward: Response to NWMO's Draft Study Report. Submission to NWMO national consultation process. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Stratos, 2005. Dialogue on Choosing a Way Forward: The NWMO Draft Study Report: Summary Report. Toronto: NWMO.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass. 1997. “Deliberation, Democracy, Disagreement.” In Justice and Democracy: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Bontekoe, Ron and Stepaniants, Marietta. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 93–117.Google Scholar
Thompson, Ken, manager of community health, TCHC. 2007. Interview with author, August 13. Toronto.Google Scholar
Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). 2003. “Participatory Planning and Budgeting—Our Own Story.” Presentation, Lifelong Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy, and Social Change Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. May 15–17.Google Scholar
Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). 2006. A Guide to Toronto Community Housing: CHU Councils. Toronto.Google Scholar
Trudeau Foundation and Sierra Club of Canada. 2005. “Roundtable Discussion on Nuclear Waste Management.” Toronto.Google Scholar
United Church of Canada, Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Unit. 2005. The Response of the United Church of Canada to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization Final Report. Toronto.Google Scholar
Valadez, Jorge. 2001. Deliberative Democracy, Political Legitimacy, and Self-Determination in Multicultural Societies. Boulder CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Warren, Mark and Pearse, Hillary. 2008. Designing Deliberative Democracy: The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 1999. “Justice, Inclusion, and Deliberative Democracy.” In Deliberative Politics: Essays on Democracy and Disagreement, ed. Macedo, Stephen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar