On Deliberation against "Domination"

This essay contrasts Ian Shapiro's neo-Schumpeterian ideal of competitive democracy with deliberative democracy. Shapiro contends that party competition will lead to a competition of ideas and will minimize what he calls "domination." I contend that deliberative democracy is more promising as an aspiration to realize competition of ideas and the minimization of domination. In fact, Schumpeterian party competition is likely to produce hyperpolarization and incentives for propaganda and manipulation—hardly a genuine competition of ideas. And such competitive democracy may actually lead to domination by fostering populist movements bent on sacrificing the essential interests of minorities.