Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Miller, Hugh T.

Abstract

Modern societies are increasingly becoming more culturally diverse. In theories of multiculturalism and governance two approaches to government involvement in managing the dynamics of multicultural interactions prevail, majoritarian and consociational models of democracy. The discursive model of democracy is offered in this study as an alternative model that allows for citizen engagement in public deliberations of conflicting issues. I argue that government has an active role in facilitating multicultural discourses in communities. In facilitation of multicultural discourses I consider public recognition of cultural differences as one important element for citizen inclusion in public deliberations. The practices of three county governments in South Florida in facilitation of multicultural discourse are investigated and comparatively examined. The individual cases are investigated and compared on nine dimensions of multicultural discourse, into three broader categories: forms of discourses, components of discourses, and implications of discourses. The comparative examination shows that government facilitation of multicultural discourse assists in resolution of multicultural conflicts in communities and in building awareness and tolerance of cultural specificities of others. It also provides for larger inclusion of socially marginalized cultural groups in policy processes. The extent of the involvement of county governments in South Florida in facilitation of multicultural discourses is often influenced by and contingent on the commitment and receptivity of legislators.

Extent

380 p.

Comments

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.|Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.

Identifier

FADT12233

Format

pdf

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