Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 53 n. 3 Rio de Janeiro 2010
Abstract
This article's working hypothesis is that contemporary reflection on democracy should not be limited to the false dichotomy between representation on the one hand and participation and decision-making on the other. Within the scope of dialectically analyzing democracy, the article contends that numerous possibilities remain to be explored, even from the normative point of view, given the reluctance of democratic theory to draw on empirical reality to test its premises, expand its concepts, revalidate its meanings, and broaden its horizons. The article thus proposes to introduce in broad strokes 'pragmatic democracy', a normative concept serving as an analytical tool to approach the contingency and complexity of contemporary democracy and its institutions.
Keywords: democracy, representation, participation, pragmatism
DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52582010000300005
Pragmatic democracy: the premises of an empirically oriented normative theory
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