修辭民主之芻議

A Preliminary Study of Rhetorical Democracy

由於環境的變遷，當代民主產生許多新的面貌。本文主張以「修辭式民主」最能掌握當前民主政治的特色，同時也可以作為提醒民主運作弊端的重要概念。本文首先說明，修辭式民主中的修辭概念源自古希臘雅典，當時的民主大會中，只有具備修辭技巧者，才能在公民大會上扼要陳述重點並且與人辯駁、說服在場的觀眾。然而隨著人口增加、地域擴大，甚至民主體制的中斷，後來的民主政治政治再次出現時，已經是採行代議民主、共和體制。然而，隨著當代網路興起、電子媒體的蓬勃發展，民主又有了新面貌，本文稱之為「修辭式民主」。亦即，更強調政治人物與公眾間的溝通、交流，同時也有更多的互動。為了凸顯此種概念的特質，本文並與當前盛行的「審議民主」進行比較。本文認為修辭式民主是一個更為務實、更能凸顯當前民主體制的一種概念。順著修辭式民主的優缺點，本文認為值得推廣此一概念，方便使人們容易了解當前民主運作的特色以及可能的弊端。

Many changes happened and are happening to modern democracy and these shifting matters make our democracy express a new form. This paper argues that ＂rhetorical democracy＂ is an appropriate term to define today’s democracy for being able to grasp new features, better normative values, and alerting connotation. First, I trace the prototype of rhetorical democracy, which originated from the ancient Greek and analyze its tenets in which persuasion and judgment are the two main focuses. In order to contrast attributes of rhetorical democracy, I compare it with deliberative democracy in four aspects. Deliberative democracy is a prevailing democratic theory and many scholars are devoted to its theory and practice. In comparison, I argue that rhetorical democracy is more practical and in some aspects, even more desirable. After that, I discuss the negative connotation of rhetorical democracy. Finally, I conclude that rhetorical democracy can help us understand present democracy better, choose proper targets and therefore, we should offer a corresponding civic education to the new democracy.