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This paper traces the evolution of deliberative institutions in India to understand the role of deliberation in democratic life, as well as the ways in which deliberative bodies influence, and are influenced by, entrenched social inequality. The paper first unpacks the historical roots of Indian deliberation in the pre-colonial and colonial periods, emphasizing the ways in which religious traditions fostered a culture of debate and dialogue. The paper then explores the interplay between Western liberal philosophers, most notably Henry Maine, and Indian political thinkers, including Gandhi and Ambedkar, on participatory democracy in India. The discussion then highlights the continued dialogue between Indian and Western ideas in the push for greater participatory development. Finally, the paper probes the current incarnation of state-sponsored deliberation in India - namely, village assemblies known as gram sabhas under the constitutionally mandated system of Indian village democracy or Panchayati Raj - and reviews the growing empirical scholarship about these village assemblies.

Deliberation --- Democracy

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Le débat public est à la fois nécessaire pour la démocratie et souvent inefficace dans ses mises en œuvre. Ainsi, les débats politiques télévisés sont, la plupart du temps, détournés en opérations de communication, et les NTIC nous proposent des forums qui se contentent de juxtaposer des opinions. L'efficacité du débat public résiderait donc, plutôt, dans la légitimité conférée au citoyen et dans l'impact de sa parole sur les processus décisionnels. Se pose ainsi le besoin d'une réflexion sur la situation délibérative dans le débat public. Motivé par les questions de la vulgarisation scientifique, le CEDP s'est positionné sur une problématique de l'usage qui renverse le schéma traditionnel de la communication. D'une démarche d'interrogation sur le public, il est passé à un positionnement théorique qui interroge le questionnement de ce même public. De nouvelles méthodes de débat public sont recherchées. Celui-ci apparaît alors comme la technique générique de production d'une « efficacité sociale » des usages de la science. À partir de trois acteurs qui, dans l'interrelation nouvelle proposée, sont légitimés (le public, le politique, l'expert), le laboratoire s'est attaché à mettre au point un protocole – les Rencontres Délibératives® – visant à rendre le grand public plus apte au débat sur la science. Le CEDP a décliné le modèle « Rencontres Délibératives » dans des champs diversifiés. Un répertoire de méthodologies employées, en fonction du champ social considéré, a été constitué. Nous avons alors abordé le problème de la propagation des savoirs et de leur appropriation par le public. Se pose aujourd'hui la question du débat public comme « apprentissage social » permettant aux publics le passage de la participation à la délibération. Ce questionnement appelle, de nos jours, une approche pluridisciplinaire. Les contributions nombreuses de ce colloque participent, en théorie et en pratique, à la constitution de cet objet scientifique.

Political Science --- débat public --- citoyens --- démocratie --- délibération

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The resurgence of deliberative institutions in the developing world has prompted a renewed interest in the dynamics of citizen engagement. Using text-as-data methods on an original corpus of village assembly transcripts from rural Tamil Nadu, India, this paper opens the "black box" of deliberation to examine the gendered and status-based patterns of influence. Drawing on normative theories of deliberation, this analysis identifies a set of clear empirical standards for "good" deliberation, based on an individual's ability both to speak and be heard, and uses natural language processing methods to generate these measures. The study first shows that these assemblies are not mere "talking shop" for state officials to bluster and read banal announcements, but rather, provide opportunities for citizens to challenge their elected officials, demand transparency, and provide information about authentic local development needs. Second, the study finds that across multiple measures of deliberative influence, women are at a disadvantage relative to men; women are less likely to speak, set the agenda, and receive a relevant response from state officials. Finally, the paper shows that although quotas for women on village councils have little impact on the likelihood that they speak, they do improve the likelihood that female citizens are heard.

Deliberation --- Gender --- Participation --- Text-As-Data --- Village Democracy

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Transnational civil society networks have become increasingly important democratizing actors in global politics. Still, the exploration of democracy in such networks remains conceptually and methodologically challenging. Practice theory provides a framework to study democracy as routinized performances even in contexts of fluid boundaries, temporal relations and a diffuse constituency. The author attempts to understand how new forms of democratic practice emerge in the interaction between political actors and their structural environments.

deliberation --- democracy --- transnationalism --- democracy --- transnationalism --- deliberation --- Civil society --- Decision-making --- Friends of the Earth --- Participatory democracy --- Representative democracy --- democracy --- transnationalism --- deliberation --- Civil society --- Decision-making --- Friends of the Earth --- Participatory democracy --- Representative democracy

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Transnational civil society networks have become increasingly important democratizing actors in global politics. Still, the exploration of democracy in such networks remains conceptually and methodologically challenging. Practice theory provides a framework to study democracy as routinized performances even in contexts of fluid boundaries, temporal relations and a diffuse constituency. The author attempts to understand how new forms of democratic practice emerge in the interaction between political actors and their structural environments.

deliberation --- democracy --- transnationalism --- Civil society --- Decision-making --- Friends of the Earth --- Participatory democracy --- Representative democracy