Deliberative Negotiation

Abstract

This chapter addresses three questions: What is deliberative negotiation? How can deliberative negotiation be achieved? What does deliberative negotiation do? First, deliberative negotiation is a communication process that contributes to reaching binding decisions in democratic politics, and is characterized by justification, mutual respect, and the absence of coercion. Second, three sets of conditions—related to 1) formal institutions, 2) social context, 3) issue characteristics—conduce “deliberative moments” in a negotiation. The chapter illustrates how these conditions work, with a focus on EU negotiations. Third, we explore the impact of deliberative negotiation on delivering outcomes tout court (e.g. by offering solutions to the negotiators’ dilemma) and on producing “better” outcomes (e.g. by increasing the likelihood of overall preference satisfaction). The chapter concludes that both the process and outcome of deliberative negotiation can instil legitimacy even when other aspects of a negotiation (or of the political system itself) struggle to do so.