Arguments for deliberative participation in local economic development

Bibliographic Data

ID23214767
AuthorsZoltán Bajmócy (0000-0002-4462-0469, 1 University of Szeged Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Szeged Hungary), Judit Gébert (0000-0002-0026-1847, 1 University of Szeged Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Szeged Hungary)
Year2014
Volume64
Issue3
Pages313-334
Publication date2014-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueActa Oeconomica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-6373 • E-ISSN: 1588-2659
PublisherAkademiai Kiado Zrt. (PUBLISHER • HU)
DOI10.1556/aoecon.64.2014.3.3
OpenAlexW2037728935
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited49

According to the common sense, experts, backed up by scientific methods, describe the “possible states of the world” in a value-neutral way. Then, in the political arena, delegates build on these proposals, but also consider values and interests. The present paper attempts to revise such an understanding of local economic development (LED) and argues that many of the deficiencies deriving from such a view can be remedied by deliberative participation, which is not merely a theoretical necessity, but also a practical possibility.With regard to the issue of public participation and deliberation, the paper identifies two main approaches in the LED literature: the “political” and the “apolitical”, of which the latter is mainly characterised by economic theorising. We take a closer look at the “apolitical” approach and demonstrate that in fact it is very much political. Therefore, we call for the transgression of the borderline between politics and expertise in LED, and suggest a joint democratisation of these interrelated terrains. We argue that deliberative participation is able to contribute to the quality of both the expert proposals and the working of the politics.

Deliberation · Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Democratization · Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Quality (philosophy) · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Community Development and Social Impact · Computer Science · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Law · Taxation and Compliance Studies

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