THE STRUCTURING ROLE OF DISSENSUS IN CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACIES: A NECESSARY DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE POLITICAL THEORY OF DISSENSUS AND THE IDEA OF RADICAL DEMOCRACY

Abstract

A broad theory of deliberative democracy presupposes a theory of dissent as one of its core ideas. In this work, we ask what is the role of dissent in contemporary democracies and how it can be articulated in order to corroborate the strengthening of democratic ideals. The objective of this work is to outline some considerations about the meaning of dissent as a central feature of deliberative democracy. Here, dissent is analyzed from different theoretical frameworks. Some constructions on the meaning of dissent in the liberal paradigm and in the deliberative democratic paradigm are discussed. Reflections on the contextualization of dissent as an expression of the right to freedom of expression provided for in the First Amendment to the US Constitution are also launched. Still, parameters are brought to the construction of a political theory of dissent, taking into account the deliberative democratic paradigm and the idea of radical democracy. This effort is relevant, based on the argument that deliberative democracy partially shares the resource of liberal democracy, of stifling dissent, incorporating, or excluding it, curbing parity of participation of interested and dissidents and discursive symmetry, contributing to for the reinforcement of dominant discourses and the exclusion of voices. Critical reflections and theoretical intertwining and propositions are based on bibliographic research. As a general objective, we intend to bring some definitions of dissent, its contextualization in the liberal paradigm and in the democratic-deliberative paradigm and its value for plural societies. Still, it seeks to understand the relationship between dissent and participatory democracy and how it serves to achieve its greatest mission: true participation of those concerned in the public sphere. It is also intended to articulate the role of dissent in democracies, based on the notions of deliberative democracy, radical and agonistic democracy, and activism in societies.