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Article published In:
Argumentation in European Politics
Edited by Corina Andone and Bart Garssen
[Journal of Argumentation in Context 11:1] 2022
► pp. 133–155

Prescribed argumentation, actual argumentation, reported argumentation

The management of argumentation in a public debate in France

| NCPD, Université Gustave Eiffel
| Université de Paris

This article starts from the observation that, in order to ensure their legitimacy, the modes of governance in place in most Western democracies make more room for citizen participation in decision-making processes. The result is the implementation of various participatory mechanisms, many of which seek to stimulate a citizen’s argumentative expression. Based on a case study (the public debate on a gold mine project in French Guiana), we observe the norms that govern such participation processes and their implementation in the argumentative exchanges.

Keywords: participatory process, argumentation design, public debate, ordinary political discourse
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The French experience of public debates and prescribed argumentation
    • 2.1The NCPD: An institution with three missions
    • 2.2Prescribed argumentation
    • 2.3The debate on the gold mine in Guiana: David against Goliath?
    • 2.4The data
  • 3.Actual argumentation: Integration of the prescribed argumentation in the speech event
  • 4.Actual argumentation: Principles put to the test
    • 4.1Principle of equivalence
    • 4.2Principle of transparency
    • 4.3Inclusion principle
  • 5.Discussion. Hesitation between two models: Participation / communication
  • 6.Reported argumentation
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.21021.dou
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