Participatory Democracy, Science and Technology

Participatory Democracy, Science and Technology is not a manifesto. Nor does it propose a utopian model of participatory democracy. Instead, the author philosophically explores the nature of democratic participation in modern society. What are the minimum conditions for democratic partipation in a scientific and technological society? What are its limits? Can participatory democracy provide a public means of deliberating and improving the rational basis for policy decisions about the trajectories and content of science and technology in society? Or should the implementation and development of science and technology be left to technical experts, scientists, and professional politicans? Taking insights from the philosophy of science and critical theories of technology, the author presents an argument for the practical value of participatory democracy for the development of modern society in an open-ended, complex and changing world that does not conform to human intentions and expectations.The author challenges the reader to question the nature of "actually existing democracy" and argues that maximal and critical democratic participation is the best means to transform modern society into a rational, libertarian, and sustainable society.