Week 4 Reflection Blog
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In this week’s lesson, we talked about deliberative democracy. Deliberative democracy is where argue, debate, or exchange claims and contentions in achieving public good. As discussed, this is where political decisions should be the outcome of discussion and debates among people. For me, I am in favor of deliberative democracy because it encourages the participation of people. Also, in my opinion, this type of democracy is inclusive kasi mas naririnig ang mga tao kasi they are given the opportunity to argue or state their claims which helps in achieving a political decision to reach the common good. It is where political decisions should be outcomes of reasonable and just debates and discussions to achieve the public good (Eagan, n.d.). Hindi man sila ang nasunod or nanalo sa debate nila but at least, they were heard. And maybe someday, ma-reconsider yung arguments nila. Kasi in life, hindi naman talaga lahat is nananalo. Meron at meron talagang matatalo at merong masusunod. But for me, I do not want to think of it as a bad thing. Kasi at least ngayon, na-present na nila yung mga arguments nila, their voices were heard and sooner or later, hopefully, mapagbigyan din sila.
The question that we were asked for this week’s discussion thread was under what conditions would deliberative democracy be enabled and what its constraining conditions would be. As stated in the discussion thread, I said that with the use of the internet especially social media, people have easier access to information and communication. Sa panahon ngayon, it’s easier for people to voice out their concerns and opinions by posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok. Also, mas madali na rin para sa mga tao na makipag-discuss or debate sa ibang tao kasi, you can freely react to or comment on such posts. Possible na rin ang real time discussions and meetings because of Zoom, Google Meet, etc. So dahil dito, nagiging possible ang deliberations even if it’s not done face to face. Especially now that we are in a pandemic. However, I also mentioned the constraints of this like, not everyone has access to the internet. Well, it is true naman na hindi lahat ay may means to provide for their basic needs what more yung para sa gadget or sa internet. Because of this, hindi napapakinggan yung ibang tao because of their lack of access to the internet which opposes the idea of deliberative democracy that it should be inclusive. Another constraint that I thought of was that because nasa internet lang ang deliberations, it is easier to leave the discussion. If ayaw mo na yung sinasabi ng kausap mo, you can easily leave the call with just a click of a button. If nagtatalo na kayo, you can just block them right away. Problem solved. But with this, like what I said in the thread, it does not result to healthy and purposive discussions.
Reference:
Eagan, J. (n.d.). Deliberative Democracy. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/deliberative-democracy