Democracy has long been considered by the modern society as one of the universal values and it has been used as a legitimate decision making method. According to Habermas in Three Normative Models of Democracy (Habermas, 1994), democracy is the institutionalization of the public use of reason jointly exercised by autonomous citizens. Deliberation needs to be freed of power imbalances in order to reach normative consensus based on rationality and equal participation. It is claimed that the goal of deliberate democracy is to achieve a just social order whereas a just social order is the social order which each individual and institution is constrained from committing unjust acts. This essay will argue that, in fact deliberate democracy is not a necessary condition for a just social order. This argument will be supported by the insufficient condition for deliberative democracy to achieve a just social and the presence of benevolent democracy leading to a just social order with the example in Singapore.
Benevolent dictatorship can also achieve a just social order without deliberative democracy. A benevolent dictatorship is a theoretical form of government in which an authoritarian leader exercises absolute political power over the state but is seen to do so for the benefit of the population as a whole. In order to achieve a just social order, it is
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Nonetheless the failure of censensus formation leading to voting might contribute to the tyranny of majority, which considered by the minority as unjust. Notwithstanding the contribution of deliberate democracy to a just social order, it is not a necessary condition as there are other nondemocratic of rule could also achieve a just social order. Therefore deliberate democracy is not a necessary condition but provides instrumental value to achieve a just social