Inheritance and Transcendence: On Habermas's Deliberative Politics and Rousseau's General Will

Habermas who proposed the democratic pattern of "deliberative politics" has inherited and transcended Rousseau's "general will".As the principle of combining social community, "general will", that is, the public of the Community, related to the public well-being of the Community.It is the "general will" that made the necessity of the establishment of a society possible.At the same time, Habermas found that the objective of the value of the general will had been set, but in the reality it often emphasized the importance of the result, neglecting the process.Thus, it is important to construct a communicative space for action and to set a engagement program in the dynamic field for the "general will".Habermas thought the theory of "deliberative politics" could explain how the private and public autonomy were internally related in the course of legal system.The inclusive theory with the desire for the dynamic balance of the social order put more emphasis on the course of the will, through the procedure of lawmaking that begets legitimacy.This is precisely the view making Habermas beyong Rousseau.