Deliberationens baksida? En kvantitativ studie om deliberativ demokrati och kristnas upplevelser av marginalisering inom den svenska offentligheten

Sammanfattning

This study examines whether deliberative democracy, both as a normative democratic modeland as a practical framework within Sweden, may contribute to experiences of exclusion,marginalization and polarization among Christian groups. Focusing on Christians in theGothenburg area, the study investigates how respondents perceive their position withincontemporary public discourse and democratic participation. The thesis further seeks tocontribute to the understudied intersection between religion and deliberative democratictheory, particularly regarding pluralism, inclusion, and democratic legitimacy. The studyadopts a deductive and quantitative research design grounded in the theories of JürgenHabermas and John Rawls, alongside Chantal Mouffe’s critique of deliberative democracyand her theory of agonistic pluralism. Empirical data was collected through a web-basedsurvey distributed among Christians from various denominations in Gothenburg andsurrounding municipalities. The findings indicate that a majority of the respondentsexperience a sense of marginalization and limited legitimacy within the Swedish publicsphere. Results further suggest that deliberative democratic ideals emphasizing rationalconsensus may, in practice, contribute to the exclusion of perspectives perceived as deviatingfrom dominant secular norms. Although the study finds only limited evidence of a directrelationship between marginalization and reduced democratic trust, the results neverthelesshighlight tensions between deliberative ideals and religious pluralism in contemporarySweden.