Critique of Deliberative Democracy: A Critical Assessment

In the present scenario, liberal democracy is the universally recognized legitimate form of government. American President Bush Jr. and his philosopher adviser Fukuyama claimed triumph over the adversaries of liberal democracy. There are varying claims as to how the present bugle of triumph will blow. While very few dare to challenge the liberal-democratic model, the signs of disaffection with present institutions are rapidly surfacing. The basic argument for the disaffection is that people feel says that traditional parties in a liberal democratic setup have ceased to take the interests of the people into account, and that extreme rightwing parties are making inroads into many Western liberal democracies. In this paper, I want to show that, moreover, even among those who are resisting the call of political leaders seeking popular support by exploiting people’s desires and prejudices and not entering discursive discourse, as proposed by Deliberative democracy, there is a marked scepticism about politics and politicians, which is undermining popular democratic values. There is clearly a wave of opposition emerging in most liberal-democracies, which exposes the triumphalism witnessed after the collapse of Soviet Union.