審議民主模式在過去二十年當中，影響了治理過程中政府與民眾之間關係的思維，然而在理論的充分發展之後，實際的審議民主模式操作如何回應到當初審議民主論者所建構的圖像，則是目前文獻較為缺乏。本文目的在透過台灣近幾年公民會議的實際操作經驗，結合公民會議本身與政治系統的運作，找出公民會議在現行制度當中，對實務的定位與價值，並回應理論的期盼。從審議民主論者的角度來看，審議民主模式追求的應該是工具與表意的結合，以及程序民主與實質民主的兼顧。但本文的研究發現，目前台灣所推動的公民會議模式，在定位上偏重工具性，忽略表意性的目的；在價值的追求上，公民會議帶來的是實質上兼顧各方立場的價值，而不是程序上的民主價值。 Deliberative democracy theory has been extensively discussed in the past two decades. Democracy theorists believe it opportunely responds to the emerging needs of civic engagement in democratic administration. However, even though the theoretical value of deliberative democracy is well-developed, the effect of its practical implementation is still fuzzy. Many ideas concerning on deliberative democracy are criticized on they are merely theoretical and speculative. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the practical value and status of practical implementation of deliberative democracy in Taiwan by examining the policy impacts of eight citizen conferences. The findings show that 1) the implementation of deliberative democracy in Taiwan only brought about instrumental effect, as a means of looking for public opinion and policy support, and ignored the importance of expressive effect which aims to get mutual understanding among citizens; 2) the practical value of deliberative democracy in Taiwan favored only substantive value and neglected procedural equity.
