Nowadays, the legitimacy of representative democracy is called into question which results in a search for a new kind of democracy. One of the reflections of this search is the theory of deliberative democracy, which is projected to be an alternative to representative democracy since the 1980s.

Deliberative democracy, as one which can be described as a kind of direct democracy and that targets whole public from all grounds to participate directly within the processes of democratic governance and decision – making, foresees a strong civil society in which individuals actively participate in the democratic decision – making process. In this sense, in Hegelian “individual-civil society-state” division, deliberative democracy foresees a strong civil society in which individuals actively participate in the democratic decision-making mechanisms. The goal is to create political human beings and a model that attain the power to alter democratic fate and future directly through civil and political interference.

As Applied Research Center of TURKEY (TRC), we attach importance to the goal of deliberative democracy to create a strong civil society in the name of the continuity and consolidation of common peace and envisage the future as the age of civil society. In accordance with this vision, we would like to make a well – qualified academic contribution to the field by organizing the “1st International Deliberative Democracy Symposium, 15 – 16 April 2009” during which deliberative democracy would be evaluated in terms of its different dimensions, theoretical probabilities and problematic aspects, and attempts of its implementation.

We believe that Turkish democracy, built on the cultural richness of heterogeneous society structure, offers a convenient platform for the scholarly disputes of deliberative democracy. Although problematic, our country’s political history through which democracy is the predominant preference at the final point, compromise culture, rich social structure, and civil society that grows stronger, promise hope for possible practical applications of deliberative democracy.

Within the framework of these evaluations, we believe that by means of the Symposium which focuses on deliberative democracy as a new suggestion, we will fulfill our responsibility toward the century and the society we live in, and expect and appreciate the worthy contribution of academicians in the field.