對於民主制度的想像,直接民主與代議民主無疑處於光譜的兩端,而囿於公共事務的千頭萬緒,以及公民忙碌的日常行程甚至所謂的「政治冷漠」,代議民主於是成為最主流的民主形式。然而當代議民主發展到極致時,卻也有不夠重視公民政治行動的缺失,不僅有礙公民能力的發展,恐也有害政治制度的穩定。 在代議民主的這些批判者之中,強力捍衛「人民主權」原則的盧梭無疑是相當傑出的一位,他所提出的直接民主制度更對後世有深遠的影響,於是本文乃以帕特曼、柯爾、巴勃等參與民主理論家為例,觀察盧梭理論對他們的可能影響,並冀望工作場所民主、基爾特社會主義藍圖、強民主制度等各種形式的參與民主體制,能夠讓習於代議民主制度的現代人思考是否可能採行另一種關心更多、參與更多的政治體制。
Direct democracy and representative democracy are definitely in the extreme ends of the political spectrum, when talking to the imagination about political institutions. Due to the complexities and amounts of public affair, representative democracy becomes the most popular political institution. However, when representative democracy is over-developed, the ignorance of public actions is not only retarded the self-development of citizens, but also harmful to the stability of the political institutions. Among the critics of representative democracy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau is the most outstanding one. His direct democracy greatly influence latter scholars and politicians. So I try to observe the political theories of G. D. H. Cole, Carole Pateman and Benjamin Barber, to see how and to what degree they are influenced by Rousseau. Hoping these forms of participatory democracy: workplace democracy, Guild Socialism and Strong Democracy, can inspire modern people to think about a kind of different political institution which can allow citizens to care more, participate more.