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some, if not all, participants will enter the process with no intention of
reviewing their interests, but with every intention of advancing them if
the opportunity arises. 82 They argue that self-interest is likely to remain
the default setting in participation rather than some abstract notion of
citizenship, and, consequently, that
'
power and political action will
s course. 83
As with the general lack of certainty over outcomes, the possibility that
existing power imbalances would skew deliberative processes cannot be
dispelled. Despite this, the discursive nature of deliberation is, for the
reasons I consider below, more likely to challenge and overcome the
negative in
remain dominant determinants
'
of society
'
uences of vested interests over decision-making in the long-
term than other mechanisms for public participation. The
rst consid-
eration is, again, the transformative potential of deliberation. 84 Whilst
initial reluctance to abandon personal preferences is to be expected,
prolonged involvement with a new style of politics and exposure to an
ecological orientation in political decision-making may result in the
evolution of different attitudes. The hope is that people and commercial
entities alike will begin to appreciate both their shared interests in
maintaining a healthy environment and to see themselves as politically
responsible for advancing the common well-being in their behaviours
and choices.
Deliberation under a system of ecological governance would form a
key part of the experimental approach I refer to in Chapter 4 ,thepurpose
of which is to explore whether an ecological transition in which all
sectors of society are willing participants is possible. 85 If the experiment
in governance reveals that people are inherently venal and unmoved by
appeals to values other than their own, the inescapable conclusion may
be that a more directional mode of government is needed if ecological
goals are to be advanced. The evidence I refer to concerning peoples
'
readiness to reconsider what is in their own and others
'
interests gives
some grounds for con
dence that this will not prove to be the case.
The second is that deliberative institutions can be designed to over-
come inequalities in wealth and power to the extent that these would
be inimical to open debate in which a wide range of interests are
82 Tewdwr-Jones and Allmendinger,
'
Deconstructing Communicative Rationality
'
,
1981.
83
Ibid ., 1981, 1985.
84
See Chapter 6, Section 6.2.3 , and Dobson,
'
Democratising Green Theory
'
,p.141.
85 Chapter 4, Section 4.1 .
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