VOLUME 4 (2008), ISSUE 1, Essays	<Previous Essay
Can Deliberative Democracy Work in Hierarchical Organizations? Jason L. Pierce, University of Dayton Grant Neeley, University of Dayton Jeffrey Budziak, Ohio State University SUGGESTED CITATION: Jason L. Pierce, Grant Neeley, and Jeffrey Budziak (2008) "Can Deliberative Democracy Work in Hierarchical Organizations?," Journal of Public Deliberation: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 14. http://services.bepress.com/jpd/vol4/iss1/art14	Download this article (608 K, PDF) Tell a Colleague Get Acrobat Reader Printing Tip: Select the option to 'print as image' in the Acrobat print dialog to ensure the article prints as it appears on screen. Learn more...
Some measure of equality is necessary for deliberative democracy to work well, yet empirical scholarship consistently points to the deleterious effect that hierarchy and inequalities of epistemological authority have on deliberation. This article tests whether real-world deliberative forums can overcome these challenges. Contrary to skeptics, it concludes that the act of deliberation itself and the presence of trained moderators ameliorate inequalities of epistemological authority, thus rendering deliberative democracy possible, even within hierarchical organizations.
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