Deliberative Democracy and the Environment makes an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between democratic and green political theory.

Can our political institutions be more sensitive to environmental values? Why should greens be interested in deliberative democracy? Contemporary democracies are frequently criticized for failing to respond adequately to environmental problems and our political institutions are often charged with misrepresenting environmental values in decision-making processes. In this innovative volume, Graham Smith argues that the enhancement and institutionalisation of democratic deliberation will improve reflection on the wide range of environmental values that citizens hold. Drawing on theories of deliberative democracy, Smith argues that institutions need to be restructured in order to promote democratic dialogue and reflection on the plurality of environmental values. Deliberative Democracy and the Environment makes an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between democratic and green political theory. Drawing on evidence from Europe and the United States, it systematically engages with questions of institutional design. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in both environmental and democratic politics.

Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One: Value pluralism and environmental values The intrinsic value debate Reassessing environmental values Ethical monism Value pluralism Judgement in the face of value pluralism Chapter Two: Environmental economics and the internalisation of environmental values Economic valuation of the environment Challenging economic valuation and extended-CBA The pragmatic defence of CBA Lessons for institutional design Chapter Three: Deliberative democracy and green political theory Deliberative democracy Green politics and deliberative democracy
The green challenge to deliberative democracy From critique
to institutional design Chapter Four: Three deliberative
models Trends in institutional design Model 1: mediation and stakeholder group engagement Model 2: citizen forums Model 3: citizen initiative and referendum Contrasting deliberative institutions Chapter Five: Towards ecological democratisation? Constitutional environmentalism Greening
representative assemblies Civil society and the public sphere Conclusion Bibliography Index