Editing Politics (section)

==== Deliberation ====
[[Deliberative democracy]] is based on the notion that democracy is government by [[deliberation]]. Unlike aggregative democracy, deliberative democracy holds that, for a democratic decision to be legitimate, it must be preceded by authentic deliberation, not merely the aggregation of preferences that occurs in voting. ''Authentic deliberation'' is deliberation among decision-makers that is free from distortions of unequal political power, such as power a decision-maker obtained through economic wealth or the support of interest groups.<ref>[[Amy Gutman|Gutmann, Amy]], and Dennis Thompson. 2002. ''Why Deliberative Democracy?'' [[Princeton University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-691-12019-5}}</ref><ref>Cohen, Joshua. 1997. "Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy." In ''Essays on Reason and Politics: Deliberative Democracy'', edited by J. Bohman and W. Rehg. Cambridge: [[The MIT Press]]. pp. 72–73.</ref><ref>Ethan J. 2006. "Can Direct Democracy Be Made Deliberative?" ''[[Buffalo Law Review]]'' 54.</ref> If the decision-makers cannot reach [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]] after authentically deliberating on a proposal, then they vote on the proposal using a form of majority rule.