By Coralyn Cairns ’29 (DCI Fellow)
On a superficial level, I think most people can agree that deliberative discourse is important to democracy, as communication and representation of diverse groups is a cornerstone of democratic beliefs. With that being said, critics of deliberative theory argue that deliberation is less effective in the maintenance of democracy than it is reported to be due to linguistic exclusion. In “Language, Power, and Persuasion: Toward a Critique of Deliberative Democracy” (2000), Margaret Kohn suggests, “Under the guise of equality and impartiality, deliberative democracy privileges the communicative strategies of elites” (p. 426). In addition to amplifying elitist voices, deliberation may also exclude non-native speakers. About 37% of Americans have no higher education experience, and one-in-five (67.8 million people) speak a language other than English in the U.S (U.S. Census, 2022). Thus, the conversation of how best to accommodate deliberators of diverse backgrounds is incredibly important in the current U.S. landscape.
The U.N. deems language rights as human rights and declares that states should protect the existence of linguistic minorities (U.N. General Assembly, 1992). If that is to be respected, then policies promoting linguistic pluralism should be prioritized over assimilation to a “language franca.” This, however, creates a roadblock for democratic discourse, or, does it? In “Towards Multilingual Deliberative Democracy: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities” (2025), Lisa Verhasselt argues for a shared understanding instead of a shared language. Regarding linguistic pluralism, she states, “it should not be viewed as a problem requiring a solution but rather as a reality to be accepted and incorporated” (p. 62). So how do we accept and incorporate language diversity?
The first and most obvious way in which multilingual deliberation can be addressed is through training multilingual facilitators. With Spanish being the second most spoken language in the U.S, many professions such as medicine and law are now encouraging bilingual skill sets. Similarly, we should encourage civic-minded individuals to experience and learn about different ways in which people communicate, whether that be through formal language acquisition or familiarity with how different social and cultural groups converse.
Beyond facilitator translation, some groups are advocating for the use of generative AI to streamline and enhance understanding in deliberation across language barriers (Kalampokis et al, 2024). It is argued that generative AI can not only translate but also aid in comprehension, which is often lost in translation, especially when deliberating on divisive topics. Tools such as mind maps and automatic summarizations could be used as supplements during deliberation to support the transfer of ideas.
Deliberative discourse needs to occur across linguistic barriers, whether they are due to gaps in education or differences in language. Deliberation is meant to raise voices and bring people together, which cannot happen if others are excluded. For example, Hispanic and Latinx people represent 20% of the US population and 14% of the eligible voter population, yet they make up only 11% of those registered to vote, and registration does not always equate to casting a ballot (Pew Research Center, 2024; NY Times, 2024). This statistic, of course, is not entirely shaped through language inequality; however, we should strive to make civic engagement as accessible as possible through as many means as possible. And this necessitates that, as people dedicated to deliberative discourse and deliberative democracy, we need to find ways to make deliberation inclusive of diverse language backgrounds.
Sources:
“Cross-Tabs: July 2024 Times/Siena Poll of Registered Voters Nationwide.” New York Times, 25 July 2024, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/25/us/elections/times-siena-poll-registered-voter-crosstabs.html.
“Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.” United Nations, General Assembly 47/135, 18 December 1992, www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-rights-persons-belonging-national-or-ethnic.
Dietrich, Sandy and Erik Hernandez. “Language Use in the United States: 2019.” United States Census Bureau, August 2022, www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/acs/acs-50.pdf.
“Educational Attainment in the United States: 2021.” United States Census Bureau, 24 February 2022, www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/educational-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html
Kalampokis et al. “Fostering Multilingual Deliberation through Generative Artificial Intelligence.” EGOV-CeDEM-ePart conference, September 1-5 2024, Ghent University and KU Leuven, https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3737/paper22.pdf.
Kohn, M. “Language, Power, and Persuasion: Toward a Critique of Deliberative Democracy.” Constellations, 2000, 7: 408-429. doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.00197
Krogstad et al. “Key facts about Hispanic eligible voters in 2024.” Pew Research Center, 10 January 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/10/key-facts-about-hispanic-eligible-voters-in-2024/#detailed-data.
Verhasselt, Lisa. “Towards Multilingual Deliberative Democracy: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities.” Representation, 2025, 61:1, 57-74, doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2024.2317781.
