Liberal Theories
Much of the work done on democratic deliberation by contemporary liberal theorists involves demarcating a distinctly “political” realm, governed by public reason, which becomes the chief site of citizenship and the civic practices that accompany it.     More >

Deliberative Virtue Theories
Whereas those theories advocating rule-based constraints on discourse tend to proceed by first effectuating a separation between spheres (e.g. public/private, public/nonpublic, political/nonpolitical, etc.), ensuring that the political realm will remain untainted by potentially disruptive or controversial     More >

Hybrid Liberal/Virtue Theories
Recently, some theorists have begun to argue for models of public deliberation that combine the defense of certain fundamental liberal values and governmental forms with an advocacy for dispositional attitudes and principles (i.e., virtues) that are viewed as     More >

Agonistic/Difference Theories of Discourse
Responding to perceived difficulties inherent in both rule- and virtue-based models of dialogue, “difference” theorists, or those advocating a more agonistic (i.e., conflictual) conception of dialogue, are inclined to defend a more robust and unconstrained view     More >

Care Conceptions of Discourse
    More >