Abstract
This article examines the interconnection of multiple deliberative spaces and non-deliberative components in the deliberative system and how they complement each other to improve the deliberative quality and the democratization of food safety governance. Using the controversy on the Taiwanese government’s lifting of the ban on food imports from Japan’s radiation-affected Fukushima region, it analyzes multiple communication and deliberative spaces, including discursive narratives by civic society groups, civic online communication platforms and social media, public meetings, the hybrid forum, and the 2018 national referendum. It presents the important role of civic society organizations in knowledge production and democratizing science. The hybrid forum facilitates multi-actor dialogues and collective exploration, fosters learning about uncertainties, integrates plurality of viewpoints to address specific controversies, and attains meta-consensus. It could enhance the interaction between science and policy, improving the connection between these two spheres in deliberative systems. Some communicative activities that appear to be of poor deliberative quality, or even non-deliberative, can be compensated for by high-quality deliberation in other spaces and thus contribute to the deliberative democratization of the governance system.
Keywords
deliberative democracy, food governance, deliberative systems, hybrid forums
How to Cite
Fan, M., (2026) “Democratizing Food Safety Governance in Taiwan: A Systemic Approach to Deliberation”, Journal of Deliberative Democracy 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.1561
Funding
- Name
- National Science Council, Taiwan
9
Views
1
Downloads