Deliberation and freedom. On the normative core of Habermas's theory of democracy

This article explores Habermas's thesis on the co-originality of the political and the individual freedom of the citizen. It is argued that individual freedom without political freedom remains arbitrary. Citizens are concrete, uniquely situated subjects. Only their actual participation in deliberative processes of democratic decision-making guarantees an adequate recognition of their particular needs and problems and an adequate realization of their individual freedom. At the same time, political freedom without individual freedom is meaningless. Political deliberation is an answer to the problem of co-ordinating the actions of citizens with divergent values and conflicting views on the good life. Therefore, political deliberation as a practice already presupposes the individual freedom of the citizen.