According to Gutmann and Thompson, the practices of the Bush administration exemplify the fundamental characteristic of deliberative democracy-the requirement to give reasons. They point out that the administration "recognized an obligation to justify their views to their fellow citizens" and that it gave reasons for preemptive war. These reasons, Gutmann and Thompson claim, "laid the foundation for a more sustained and more informative debate after the U.S. military victory" ( 2- 3). As a com.menter on my blog put it, it's as if they are saying, "One good thing you can say about the war is despite all the death and destruction, it reinvigorates the postwar political debriefing process:'14 Gutmann and Thompson con., cede that the administration did not exhaust nonmilitary options before shocking and awing the Iraqi people. Nevertheless, they marvel that "the remarkable fact is that even under the circumstances of war, and in the face of an alleged imminent threat, the government persisted in attempting to justify its decision" ( 2) . They add that it is likely correct that "no amount of deliberation would have prevented the war" ( 2) .
Both the missing and the present democracy readings are unsatisfying. Nevertheless, they are useful for elaborating a certain epistemological im. passe in deliberative democracy, especially once we reread them in light of the diferent positions of enunciation at work in each explanation, that is, in light of the discourses of the hysteric, the pervert, and the university. 15
The Lack of Democracy
If we frame the issue as one of missing democracy, the protestors seem to take on the position of hysterics. Why? One, because they address their claims to a master, challenging his authority as they say, we need democrac)'J democracy is not what we have; and, two, because the demands they make seem fantastic, incapable of being filled by the master they address.
The claim that democracy is missing is dificult to take seriously. An antiwar position was out there, made vivid by the millions all over the world out in the streets on February 15, 2003. A democratically elected Congress voted to authorize the president to carry out military operations should diplomacy fail. Where, then, is the failure of democracy? The emptiness of the concept of democracy is a problem insofar as it isn't clear what, exactly, the protestors might be demanding. What do they really want? Is it democracy or something else? And insofar as it isn't clear what the protestors are demanding, it seems impossible to give them what they want.
DEMOCRACY
83