Between Facts and Norms - Contributions to a ... - Blogs Unpad

170Chapter 4intended to prevent social power from being converted directlyinto administrative power, that is, without first passing through thesluices of communicative power formation.(a) Read in discourse-theoretic terms, the principle of popularsovereignty states that all political power derives from the communicativepower of citizens. The exercise of public authority isoriented and legitimated by the laws citizens give themselves in adiscursively structured opinion- and will-formation. If we first viewthis practice as a problem-solving process, then it owes its legitimatingforce to a democratic procedure intended to guarantee a rationaltreatment of political questions. The rational acceptability of resultsachieved in conformity with procedure follows from theinstitutionalization of interlinked forms of communication that,ideally speaking, ensure that all relevant questions, issues, andcontributions are brought up and processed in discourses andnegotiations on the basis of the best available information andarguments. This legal institutionalization of specific proceduresand conditions of communication is what makes possible theeffective utilization of equal communicative freedom and at thesame time enjoins the pragmatic, ethical, and moral use of practicalreason or, as the case may be, the fair balance of interests.We can also consider the principle of popular sovereignty directlyin terms of power. In that case, it demands that legislativepowers be transferred to the totality of citizens, who alone cangenerate communicative power from their midst. Justified andbinding decisions about policies and laws demand, on the onehand, that deliberation and decision making take place face toface. On the other hand, at the level of direct and simple interactions,not all the citizens can join in the shared exercise of such apractice. A solution to this problem is provided by the parliamentaryprinciple of establishing representative bodies for deliberation anddecision making. The composition and operation of these parliamentarybodies must then be regulated according to criteria thatare set in accordance with their assigned responsibilities. Questionsof fundamental significance arise in regard to the mode ofelection and status of representatives (their immunities, whetheror not they are bound by an imperative mandate, their dependenceon congressional party blocks); in regard to the mode of decision