An in-depth examination of the conceptual foundations of democratic teaching requires critical reflection on existing theories. Since democracy as a form of a political system is an extremely widespread and desirable system, most social units seek its full embodiment. This approach, in turn, generates a great deal of debate since the realization of democratic ideals is viewed differently by different individuals.
More specifically, the schools of a democratic system of most significant interest are deliberative democracy and democratic participation. The first term should be understood as those teachings that view political decisions as the product of fair, responsible, and conscientious citizen participation through debate and deliberation. In this case, the democracy of the system is proportional to its informational openness. On the other hand, aggregative forms of democratic participation traditionally view groups or collectives of individuals as units of political interest. In a sense, there is a relationship between the two terms, which Iris Young (2001) explored in detail. More specifically, Young viewed deliberative democracy as an evolutionary development of political participation forms, as it implies a shift from justifications of collective or individual claims to models of political engagement. Aggregative forms of political participation realized through activist movements, protests, and pickets, do not have a focus on the practical transformation of problems. At the same time, deliberative democracy realizes the political interest of every citizen in a thorough discussion.
Moreover, according to Young, it is fair to say that the agenda does not allow for a clear distinction between the two forms of democratic philosophy. In particular, the practical implementation of democratic foundations is still represented by both aggregative forms, including radical models or associations of citizens and the deliberative form. There is severe tension between the two since the two models cannot coexist.
Reference
Young, I. M. (2001). Activist challenges deliberative democracy. Political Theory, 29(5), 670-690.