Editing Deliberative democracy (section)

===Cohen's outline===
[[Joshua Cohen (philosopher)|Joshua Cohen]], a student of [[John Rawls]], argued that the five main features of deliberative democracy include:<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/goodpolitynormat0000unse/page/17/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State |date=1989 |publisher=B. Blackwell |others=Alan P. Hamlin, Philip Pettit |isbn=0-631-15804-9 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=17–34 |chapter=Ch 2: Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy |oclc=18321533}}</ref>

# An ongoing independent association with expected continuation.
# The citizens in the democracy structure their institutions such that deliberation is the deciding factor in the creation of the institutions and the institutions allow deliberation to continue.
# A commitment to the respect of a pluralism of values and aims within the polity.
# The citizens consider deliberative procedure as the source of legitimacy, and prefer the causal history of legitimation for each law to be transparent and easily traceable to the deliberative process.
# Each member recognizes and respects other members' deliberative capacity.
Cohen presents deliberative democracy as more than a theory of legitimacy, and forms a body of substantive rights around it based on achieving "ideal deliberation":<ref name=":3" />
# It is free in two ways:
## The participants consider themselves bound solely by the results and preconditions of the deliberation. They are free from any authority of prior norms or requirements.
## The participants suppose that they can act on the decision made; the deliberative process is a sufficient reason to comply with the decision reached.
# Parties to deliberation are required to state reasons for their proposals, and proposals are accepted or rejected based on the reasons given, as the content of the very deliberation taking place.
# Participants are equal in two ways:
## Formal: anyone can put forth proposals, criticize, and support measures. There is no substantive hierarchy.
## Substantive: The participants are not limited or bound by certain distributions of power, resources, or pre-existing norms. "The participants…do not regard themselves as bound by the existing system of rights, except insofar as that system establishes the framework of free deliberation among equals."
# Deliberation aims at a rationally motivated [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]]: it aims to find reasons acceptable to all who are committed to such a system of decision-making.  When consensus or something near enough is not possible, [[majority rule|majoritarian decision making]] is used.

In ''Democracy and Liberty'', an essay published in 1998, Cohen updated his idea of pluralism to "reasonable pluralism" – the acceptance of different, incompatible worldviews and the importance of good faith deliberative efforts to ensure that as far as possible the holders of these views can live together on terms acceptable to all.{{sfn|Elster|1998|loc=Chapter 8 (essay by Cohen)}}