LIBERAL DEMOCRACY: SUFFRAGE AND DELIBERATION AS FIRST STEPS TOWARD A PLURAL SOCIETY

Abstract

In this article we intend to address two central characteristics of liberal democracies: equal and universal suffrage and the use of deliberation as rationality in the foundation of the concept of public reason, considered here as first steps towards the realization of a society that can accommodate the plurality of conceptions of good. For the analysis of the theme, we start from the frame of reference that we believe to be, today, the theoretical support of liberal democracies, namely, political liberalism. The study aims to recognize that political liberalism is compatible with some of the modern democratic achievements found in so-called liberal democracies, especially regarding issues of equality and "reasonable pluralism" of conceptions of life, but also fulfill some of its main promises, failing to produce a less exclusive regime. Facing this scenario, the central problem is the sufficiency of these two liberal canons in the democratic projects of contemporary societies, taking as a presupposition the growing extension of pluralism and the different comprehensive doctrines. Finally, it is concluded that, although it is an ideal theory, political liberalism is responsible for fundamental achievements in contemporary democracies, but that on the material plane do not stand as independent and sufficient projects today.