Pragmatismus in politischen Entscheidungsprozessen

This work evaluates the theories of Habermas and the classical pragmatists, as well as the assumptions of Horkheimer and Marcuse on technocratic action from a democratic perspective in order to determine their potential for empirical analysis. Its starting point is the discussion among experts in political theory or political philosophy on whether we find ourselves in a post-democratic or post-political era. As a critical contribution to this discussion, this study develops an analytical framework that complements the action model of communicative action with a pragmatic and a technocratic model, thereby enabling a normative and context-oriented assessment of political processes. A plausibility check validates the framework, using the political decision-making process of the ‘Bremer Schulkonsens’ as an example. This work is considered a part of political theory and incorporates an empirical discourse analysis from the field of school policy research.