Green visions and democratic constraints : the possibility and design of democratic institutions for environmental decision-making
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis addresses a recurrent question of our time – whether democracy can \nsecure environmental sustainability – by drawing on literatures in the normative \ntheory of democracy, social choice theory and environmental politics. I propose a \nbasic, yet substantial organising principle, the ‘dilemma of green democracy’, which \nmaps out the possibility of realising green outcomes under democratic constraints. \nInterdisciplinary ideas from neighbouring disciplines are also imported for the \npurpose of studying the design of good environmental-democratic institutions. The \nanalytical framework is an integrated one, comprising formal choice theory and \nnormative democratic theory. \nThe first part of the thesis focuses on the possibility of environmentaldemocratic institutions. Chapter 1 introduces the dilemma of green democracy – a \nconflict between three plausible desiderata for environmental democracy – and \nsuggests several proposals for avoiding the dilemma. It concludes that, as long as the \ndilemma is resolved, it is logically possible to construct environmental-democratic \ninstitutions. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 assess the desirability of the different proposals in \nterms of procedure and outcome. The general conclusion is that whether these \nproposals are desirable depends on a number of conditions and/or contextual factors. \nThe second part of the thesis examines the substantive issues in designing \nenvironmental-democratic institutions. Chapter 5 discusses how the discursive \ndilemma in social choice theory and the normative ends of deliberation constrain the \ninputs of such institutions. Chapter 6 demonstrates how the concept of distributed \ncognition, drawn from cognitive/computer science, reconciles the tension between \ntechnocracy and democracy. Chapter 7 suggests how the theory of cognitive \ndissonance, drawn from psychology, challenges the epistemic performance of \npracticable (environmental-) deliberative-democratic institutions. \nThe overall conclusion is two-fold. First, democracy can, at least in principle, \nsecure environmental sustainability, provided that the dilemma of green democracy \nis resolved. Second, interdisciplinary ideas are useful for designing good democratic \ninstitutions for collective environmental decision-making. This conclusion has \nimplications not only for intellectual enquiry, but also for institutional design in \npractice.
Author: James Wong
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1608173976