Participation in environmental decision-making processes within the discourse of representative democracy : case study of Stuttgart 21

Sammanfattning: The essay investigates whether the discourse of representative democracy provides enough space for public participation in environmental decision-making. Based on the case study of Stuttgart 21 – a large-scale reconstruction of the train station in the German city of Stuttgart – the citizens understanding of participation and representative democracy is analyzed. With regards to the related theoretical frames of Habermas, Dahl, and others the applied critical discourse analysis carries out the existence of two main discourses: The discourse of formal representative democracy as well as the discourse of lifeworld representative democracy. Taking into account the hegemonic order of discourse the essay concludes that there is enough space for public participation but it affects the social reality in the way that the decisions are not legitimate and therefore it has certain negative impact on the political system in general. As it is shown based on the analysis the discourse of representative democracy need to be further developed. Procedures like the Stuttgart 21 arbitration as well as the claim for referendums could provide valuable grounds for further considerations and to some extend offer a concrete application of deliberative democracy.