The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citi... more The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citizens actively exchange ideas, engage in debate, and create laws that are responsive to their interests and aspirations. While deliberative processes are being adopted in an increasing number of cases, decision-making power remains mostly in the hands of traditional elites.
In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy.
Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.
Contributors include Nancy Bertoldi, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Loralea Michaelis, Margaret Moore, A... more Contributors include Nancy Bertoldi, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Loralea Michaelis, Margaret Moore, Adrian Neer, Tanja Pritzlaff, Jade Larissa Schiff, and Melissa S. Williams
Contributors include Darrin Durant, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Richard Kuhn, Brenda Murphy, Anna Sta... more Contributors include Darrin Durant, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Richard Kuhn, Brenda Murphy, Anna Stanley, and Peter Timmerman
Contributors include Abigail Bakan, Tania Das Gupta, Philomena Essed, David Theo Goldberg, France... more Contributors include Abigail Bakan, Tania Das Gupta, Philomena Essed, David Theo Goldberg, Frances Henry, Harish C. Jain, Carl E. James, Audrey Kobayashi, Donatille Mujawamariya, Howard Ramos, Roger Saul, Gurpreet Singh Johal, Carol Tator, Leanne Taylor, and Mohammed A. Al-Waqfi.
There is a growing imperative to investigate the values underlying many contemporary public polic... more There is a growing imperative to investigate the values underlying many contemporary public policies and the innovative service delivery models to which they give rise. More and more, governments are implementing policy to regulate aspects of science, technology, and the environment that will affect the well-being of generations to come. Often, policy decisions are
The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are bot... more The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are both racialized and minoritized, in the governance of universities is a political issue. We present the results from an intersectional diversity audit of central and senior academic administrators at five Canadian universities: Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Victoria and York University. Our findings indicate that racialized men and women are hitting ceilings in the middle administrative ranks. Conversely, we find a notable overrepresentation of White men and women in the senior administrative ranks. Our analysis suggests that White women, unlike racialized women and men, no longer face serious barriers to representation within these senior ranks. These findings raise concerns about processes of racialization that may impede career progress for some but accelerate it for others. They raise concerns about the politics of who lift...
We evaluate the Canadian parliamentary hearings on The Protection of Communities and Exploited Pe... more We evaluate the Canadian parliamentary hearings on The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act to determine whether respectful and fair deliberation occurred. Our focus is on the content, tone, and nature of each question posed by committee members in hearings in both chambers. We find that, on the whole, the vast majority of questions met this baseline but that committee members were biased toward witnesses in agreement with their position and against witnesses in opposition to it. In addition to our substantive findings, we contribute methodological insights, including a coding scheme, for this kind of qualitative text analysis.
In this paper, we initiate a discussion within the Canadian political science community about res... more In this paper, we initiate a discussion within the Canadian political science community about research openness and its implications for our discipline. This discussion is important because the Tri-Agency has recently released guidelines on data management and because a number of political science journals, from several subfields, have signed the Journal Editors’ Transparency Statement requiring data access and research transparency (DA-RT). As norms regarding research openness develop, an increasing number and range of journals and funding agencies may begin to implement DA-RT-type requirements. If Canadian political scientists wish to continue to participate in the global political science community, we must take careful note of and be proactive participants in the ongoing developments concerning research openness.
The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citi... more The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citizens actively exchange ideas, engage in debate, and create laws that are responsive to their interests and aspirations. While deliberative processes are being adopted in an increasing number of cases, decision-making power remains mostly in the hands of traditional elites.
In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy.
Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.
Contributors include Nancy Bertoldi, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Loralea Michaelis, Margaret Moore, A... more Contributors include Nancy Bertoldi, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Loralea Michaelis, Margaret Moore, Adrian Neer, Tanja Pritzlaff, Jade Larissa Schiff, and Melissa S. Williams
Contributors include Darrin Durant, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Richard Kuhn, Brenda Murphy, Anna Sta... more Contributors include Darrin Durant, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Richard Kuhn, Brenda Murphy, Anna Stanley, and Peter Timmerman
Contributors include Abigail Bakan, Tania Das Gupta, Philomena Essed, David Theo Goldberg, France... more Contributors include Abigail Bakan, Tania Das Gupta, Philomena Essed, David Theo Goldberg, Frances Henry, Harish C. Jain, Carl E. James, Audrey Kobayashi, Donatille Mujawamariya, Howard Ramos, Roger Saul, Gurpreet Singh Johal, Carol Tator, Leanne Taylor, and Mohammed A. Al-Waqfi.
There is a growing imperative to investigate the values underlying many contemporary public polic... more There is a growing imperative to investigate the values underlying many contemporary public policies and the innovative service delivery models to which they give rise. More and more, governments are implementing policy to regulate aspects of science, technology, and the environment that will affect the well-being of generations to come. Often, policy decisions are
The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are bot... more The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are both racialized and minoritized, in the governance of universities is a political issue. We present the results from an intersectional diversity audit of central and senior academic administrators at five Canadian universities: Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Victoria and York University. Our findings indicate that racialized men and women are hitting ceilings in the middle administrative ranks. Conversely, we find a notable overrepresentation of White men and women in the senior administrative ranks. Our analysis suggests that White women, unlike racialized women and men, no longer face serious barriers to representation within these senior ranks. These findings raise concerns about processes of racialization that may impede career progress for some but accelerate it for others. They raise concerns about the politics of who lift...
We evaluate the Canadian parliamentary hearings on The Protection of Communities and Exploited Pe... more We evaluate the Canadian parliamentary hearings on The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act to determine whether respectful and fair deliberation occurred. Our focus is on the content, tone, and nature of each question posed by committee members in hearings in both chambers. We find that, on the whole, the vast majority of questions met this baseline but that committee members were biased toward witnesses in agreement with their position and against witnesses in opposition to it. In addition to our substantive findings, we contribute methodological insights, including a coding scheme, for this kind of qualitative text analysis.
In this paper, we initiate a discussion within the Canadian political science community about res... more In this paper, we initiate a discussion within the Canadian political science community about research openness and its implications for our discipline. This discussion is important because the Tri-Agency has recently released guidelines on data management and because a number of political science journals, from several subfields, have signed the Journal Editors’ Transparency Statement requiring data access and research transparency (DA-RT). As norms regarding research openness develop, an increasing number and range of journals and funding agencies may begin to implement DA-RT-type requirements. If Canadian political scientists wish to continue to participate in the global political science community, we must take careful note of and be proactive participants in the ongoing developments concerning research openness.
The Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) is a deliberative process that has been used in the United ... more The Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) is a deliberative process that has been used in the United States to involve panels of citizens in producing balanced and easily understandable accounts of proposed ballot measures and their potential effects. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how the CIR process is shaped by evaluative framing in which the rational component cannot be clearly separated from the emotive base of assigning responsibility. We analyze the argumentative dynamic of advocates’ presentations during the 2010 CIR on Measure 73 and discuss emotional claims as products of narrative structures that define problem situations. We explore how the distinction between manipulative and valid emotional claims within the context of public deliberation can be made with the help of three categories of analysis: Themes, Ideals, and Scenarios.
Because public policy is legally binding and, perhaps more pointedly, can have pervasive social a... more Because public policy is legally binding and, perhaps more pointedly, can have pervasive social and environmental consequences for the autonomy of persons, it should be justifiable to those it could so affect. What is much more controversial, and what constitutes the basic intuitive claim of this exploratory paper, is that certain public policies should be morally justifiable to both existing and future persons. My concern is with policies in such areas as energy, climate change control, nuclear waste management, natural resources management, and genomics research and commercialization, which can no doubt improve our lives and our descendant’s lives, but which can also result in tremendous adverse effects for centuries to come. In this short paper, I suggest that the ideal of deliberative democracy provides a way of morally justifying such policies to both existing and future generations. If we take seriously the requirements of this ideal, we may have to modify our public reasoning so that it includes reasons that are generally acceptable among contemporaries as well as reasons that would be acceptable to posterity. The suggestion I make in this paper is that integral to the ideal of deliberative democracy in the transgenerational context is a future-oriented and precautionary public reasoning.
Background Under current laws, sex workers are effectively criminalized, which can lead to harmfu... more Background Under current laws, sex workers are effectively criminalized, which can lead to harmful impacts beyond arrest and prosecution for sex work-specific offenses, including eviction, search and seizure, surveillance, harassment, and deportation. Although these laws are federal, they are realized in and by policy communities at the municipal level. Materials and Methods Based on a qualitative and inductive study of local policy actors affected by or involved in the implementation of prostitution laws, including 65 semistructured interviews in 2014, 2015, and 2016, we identify five different governance models within a shared legal framework of criminalization. We derive these models from an exploration of interactions among actors and organizations based in selected Canadian cities, all of which are bound by federal laws that criminalize the buying of sex thus effectively criminalizing prostitution. Results Our study surfaces a diversity of traditional and non-traditional policy players who interpret and implement prostitution laws or advocate for and support sex workers. Focusing on equilibrium moments in relationships among these actors, we identify ideational frames that appear to shape dynamics among them and, in turn, give rise to different governance models. Conclusions Our findings of different models within the same, overarching legal context are notable because it demonstrates the variability of a single law when it is implemented in local contexts. This is a contribution not just to understanding how prostitution is governed in particular contexts but also to policy and governance theory more generally. Our findings can serve in future, deductive studies that seek to determine the causes and implications of different governance models in the policy area of prostitution and beyond.
The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are bot... more The predominance of Whiteness, and the corresponding lack of representation of people who are both racialized and minoritized, in the governance of universities is a political issue. We present the results from an intersectional diversity audit of central and senior academic administrators at five Canadian universities:
Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2021
Many normative political theorists have engaged in the systematic collection and/or analysis of e... more Many normative political theorists have engaged in the systematic collection and/or analysis of empirical data to inform the development of their arguments over the past several decades. Yet, the approach they employ has typically not been treated as a distinctive mode of theorizing. It has been mostly overlooked in surveys of normative political theory methods and methodologies, as well as by those critics who assert that political theory is too abstracted from actual political contestation. Our aim is to unearth this grounded normative theory (GNT) approach – to identify its definitive practices and highlight its potential significance. We detail four overlapping commitments characteristic of GNT. These include commitments to expanding the comprehensiveness of input for normative arguments through original empirical research and/or analysis, recur- sivity in the development of normative claims, attentiveness to the systematic inclusion of a range of voices and ways of knowing, and accountability to those engaged by the theorist in empirical contexts. We discuss methodological distinctions within GNT, including between more- and less-solidaristic approaches. We discuss how GNT answers calls for theorists to engage more closely with empirical political dynamics and we consider responses to possible critiques.
The interplay between emotion and reason is of interest to scholars of deliberative democracy, ye... more The interplay between emotion and reason is of interest to scholars of deliberative democracy, yet it has been little analysed. Examining a 2010 Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) in Oregon, USA, we find (1) that the participation of chief petitioners, advocates and witnesses is conducive to the expression of emotions and (2) that, aided by moderators, panellists remain focused on clarifying key points and writing their Citizens’ Statement. We conclude that the competitive–collaborative structure of the CIR offers opportunities for emotional expression and reasoned deliberation while productively combining these important forms of discourse.
A short graphic novel on the harms of criminalizing sex work! This illustrated piece piece is bas... more A short graphic novel on the harms of criminalizing sex work! This illustrated piece piece is based on a forthcoming paper, Genevieve Fuji Johnson and Kerry Porth, “Sex Worker Rights are Human Rights: An Approach to Solidaristic Normative Theory,” International Journal of Feminist Politics Check it out!
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In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy.
Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.
In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy.
Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.