Civil, political, social and economic rights : branches of the same tree. Promises and perspectives of genuine public deliberation through an analysis of predeliberative conditions in Sens theory

Abstract

This thesis deals with Sen's Capability Approach coupled with his work on public reason. The aim is to understand if the effective use of public reason and the genuine freedom to participate in public deliberation require the establishment of some preconditions, enabling every citizen to participate if they so choose. It has indeed been observed that some social groups have a decreased or inexistent level of participation. This shows that prior social and economic inequalities influence considerably the freedom to participate in public debates, and therefore lead to political inequalities. Such inequalities in the deliberative process seriously undermine its legitimacy. This is especially valid for theories of justice such as Sen's, which rely on the concept of public reasoning as being the key process of creation of principles of justice. Therefore, our analysis focuses on the question whether Sen's theory itself implies the establishment of preconditions that would guarantee a more inclusive and legitimate debate.