IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 13

government, or whoever, takes the result
seriously, without it being a referendum.
This is another necessary step for the
creation of policy. It is effective,
although it would be easy for a politician
to say, “I don’t pay attention to polls.
But it would me harder for him or her to
stay ‘I don’t listen to the people, to the
citizens,” when these same people had
the chance to engage in an informed
conversation amongst themselves and
experts. In this situation, if a politician
does not agree, he or she must provide
good reasons. In other words, politicians
cannot just simply indicate something;
they must demonstrate something. This
elevates the level of the political debate
and the quality of policies. Cavalier
finished his presentation by making an
important distinction we should heed in
the Cuban case. He distinguished
deliberation and activism: each one has
its own, particular role. The activist
wants an agenda, and to promote it; the
deliberative forum’s goal is to try to
solve a problem. This is a basic
distinction, because it is not ideological.
It removes ideology from the places it is
forcefully introduced and leads to a
deliberative problem in more than a few
cases: the dominion of individuals with
preferences over citizens with wisdom.
According to Cavalier, this deliberative
dilemma is well studied The Parties
versus the People, a book by a colleague
of his, Mickey Edwards. Its subtitle is
quite suggestive: “How the Republicans
and Democrats become Americans
Again.” Martin Palous’ presentation was
critical and instructive. For him, authors

and promoters of deliberative democracy
do not explain how to apply this model
in totalitarian countries. Palous believes
it is only possible after change occurs
and went on to offer two examples from
his own experiences in what was then
Czechoslovak XK