Liberal democracy 3.0

This important book highlights the crisis in knowledge in liberal democracies. This crisis, simply put, is that most citizens cannot understand, much less judge, the claims scientists make. One response is the appointment of public commissions to provide conclusions for policymakers to act upon. There are also 'commission from below,' such as grassroots associations, that question the limits of expert knowledge and power and make rival knowledge claims. Do these commissions represent a new stage in the development of liberal democracy, or are they merely a pragmatic device of no political consequence? The central argument of the book is that in a 'knowledge society' in which specialized knowledge is increasingly important to politics, the position of democractic discussion becomes weakened. This limitation in the scope of liberal democracy threatens its fundamental character. The book will be essential reading in the fields of social theory, political theory and science studies. -- from back cover.