Deliberations as a Source of Democratic Legitimacy for Private Food Governance? Potentials and Pitfalls.

This paper explores the implications of private food governance for democratic legitimacy. In the modern (western) traditions, democratic legitimacy has come to rely on two pillars, one based on input-oriented arguments (government by the people) and one based on output-oriented arguments (government for the people). As private governance institutions lack the legitimacy arising from democratic election procedures, their claims to legitimacy tend to be based on output-oriented arguments. This paper argues that justifications of legitimacy based on output legitimacy are insufficient, since assessments of effectiveness depend on the assessor's perspective on an institution's appropriate objectives. In consequence, questions of participation and representation re-emerge. Therefore, the paper assesses whether deliberative democracy perspectives provide a more promising source of legitimacy for private governance institutions. In this context, the paper also explores possible linkages between democratic deliberations and effectiveness. The paper illustrates its argument in three cases of private food governance, namely, private retail standards, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives for GMOs, and the Marine Stewardship Council.. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]