This article examines theories of democracy which use different arguments to emphasize the role that associations play in promoting democratic ideals such as participation, equality, justice, legitimacy, deliberation and efficiency. In spite of theoretical and normative variants revealing differences in the treatment and value given to the role of associations, there are at least three approaches that can be identified from within this broad field of theoretical approaches, indicating the existence of positive if not alternative relationships between associations and democracy: participatory democracy, associative democracy and deliberative democracy. Although they all share a dissatisfaction with the liberal electoral model, pointing among other things to the competitive, individual weight that is given to the dimension of political participation, these models of democracy can also be understood in terms of analytical differences which demand more attention. For exponents of participatory democracy, their major argument on the democratic importance of associations is grounded in the thesis that associations are instruments which qualify citizen's direct participation, the true essence of democracy. For those affiliated with the theoretical current of associative democracy, associations are the possible, democratic solution for the management of social complexity. Theorists of deliberative democracy emphasize the importance of civil society - composed primarily of associations and social movments - in generating legitimate public sphere power. We suggest that the widening and deepening of democracy depends on the articulation -albeit never free of tensions - of premises of participation, representation, deliberation and association.
Associations; Participatory Democracy; Associative Democracy; Deliberative Democracy