Abstract

Introduces Goodin's proposed model of reflective democracy, which is fundamentally liberal democracy. It starts by situating the overall project—which is an attempt to identify deliberative democratic methods for evoking more reflective preferences as inputs into the political process—in the more familiar traditions/theories of democratic discourse: democratic elitism, participatory democracy, and deliberative democracy. It then goes on to discuss the model of reflective democracy chosen in more detail, by looking at its precepts. These are: that inputs matter, not just outputs; that thoughts matter, not just acts, and that the mute matter, not just the vocal. The plan of the book is then outlined, with a note on what it does not include.