Bringing difference into deliberation? Disabled people, survivors and local governance

This article discusses the rules of the game in participatory democracy and the engagement of disabled people and mental health service users/survivors in the process. Drawing on theories of new social movements and of deliberative democracy, the article considers how notions of 'legitimate participants' are constructed within official discourse, and how those can be challenged by autonomous groups of disabled people. It also explores assumptions about appropriate forms of deliberation within participation forums and how an appeal to rational debate can exclude the emotional content of the experience of living with mental health problems from deliberation about mental health policy. The argument is illustrated by reference to research conducted by the author, and by a Canadian study of user/survivor involvement in policy making.