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What is a “Democratic Experiment”?

What is a “Democratic Experiment”? Contemporary Pragmatism Vol. 9, No. 2 (December 2012), 159­180 Editions Rodopi ©2012 This paper examines a key concept of democratic experimentalism, asking what is a "democratic experiment"? Starting with Donald Campbell's argument in favor of an experimenting society, I critically examine whether randomized controlled experiments should be the gold standard for democratic experimentalism. I next suggest that a more compatible conception of experimentalism might be found in recent work on design experiments that iteratively improve design through real world application. Avoiding verificationism, Dewey's treatment of experimentalism as a basis for modern democratic authority adopts a more general interpretation of experimentation as a form of cooperative inquiry. Finally, I examine the meaning and application of experimentalism in the area of adaptive management, an approach to natural resource management. This analysis finds many of the same tensions in practice as they are described in theory, particularly between "experimental" and "collaborative" forms of adaptive management, pointing to the challenges of making experiments democratic. 1. Introduction Pragmatist philosophy holds experimentation in high esteem. Experimentation is a leitmotif that captures, in a single stroke, the Pragmatist commitment to fallibilism, to active learning through discovery and experience, and to the iterative growth of knowledge. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Contemporary Pragmatism Brill

What is a “Democratic Experiment”?

Contemporary Pragmatism , Volume 9 (2): 159 – Apr 21, 2012

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References (24)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1572-3429
eISSN
1875-8185
DOI
10.1163/18758185-90000235
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Contemporary Pragmatism Vol. 9, No. 2 (December 2012), 159­180 Editions Rodopi ©2012 This paper examines a key concept of democratic experimentalism, asking what is a "democratic experiment"? Starting with Donald Campbell's argument in favor of an experimenting society, I critically examine whether randomized controlled experiments should be the gold standard for democratic experimentalism. I next suggest that a more compatible conception of experimentalism might be found in recent work on design experiments that iteratively improve design through real world application. Avoiding verificationism, Dewey's treatment of experimentalism as a basis for modern democratic authority adopts a more general interpretation of experimentation as a form of cooperative inquiry. Finally, I examine the meaning and application of experimentalism in the area of adaptive management, an approach to natural resource management. This analysis finds many of the same tensions in practice as they are described in theory, particularly between "experimental" and "collaborative" forms of adaptive management, pointing to the challenges of making experiments democratic. 1. Introduction Pragmatist philosophy holds experimentation in high esteem. Experimentation is a leitmotif that captures, in a single stroke, the Pragmatist commitment to fallibilism, to active learning through discovery and experience, and to the iterative growth of knowledge.

Journal

Contemporary PragmatismBrill

Published: Apr 21, 2012

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