As liberal democracies are forced to make ever more political decisions con cerning the distribution of technological risk, the theory of democracy itself is evolving away from traditional liberal definitions of authority, equity, and self- interest. This essay argues that the environment of risk in which liberal demo cracies find themselves is one of great import for the definition of democracy. Risk and democracy share certain conceptual similarities as well as similar def initional difficulties. Therefore, successful policies for determining the accept ability and fair distribution of risk in society will necessitate a reconceptuali zation of democracy and its constituent ideas along more communitarian and participatory lines.
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