Public Reasoning Together: Gender and Political Deliberation

Political liberals believe that compliance with a norm of public reason facilitates the realization of cooperation and civic friendship among cocitizens. However, a developing literature in political psychology provides strong reasons for skepticism that public reason will equally ensure that women and men realize these values. Instead, the norm of public reason—at least in common specifications—favors characteristically male forms of deliberation. We propose supplementing public reason with a norm of rapport, which conceives of deliberation as an interactive engagement requiring proattitudes and actions from speaker and listener alike.