The concepts of power and democracy have been extensively studied at the global, national and local levels and within institutions including states, international organizations and political parties. However, the interplay of those concepts within social movements is given far less attention. Studies have so far mainly focused on their protest activities rather than the internal practices of deliberation and democratic decision-making. Meeting Democracy presents empirical research that examines in detail how power is distributed and how consensus is reached in twelve global justice movement organizations, with detailed observations of how they operate in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Written by leading political scientists and sociologists, this work contributes significantly to the wider literature on power and deliberative democracy within political science and sociology.

• List of figures • List of tables • List of contributors • Preface and acknowledgements • Power and democracy in social movements: an introduction, Donatella della Porta and Dieter Rucht • A methodology for studying democracy and power in group meetings, Christoph Haug, Dieter Rucht and Simon Teune • Types and patterns of intragroup controversies, Dieter Rucht • Patterns of participation, Clare Saunders and Christopher Rootes • Power and arguments in global justice movement settings, Massimiliano Andretta • Emotions in movements, Donatella della Porta and Marco Giugni • Quality of deliberation: a multilevel analysis, Marco Giugni and Alessandro Nai • Structurelessness: an evil or an asset? A case study, Christoph Haug and Dieter Rucht • Power and democracy: concluding remarks, Donatella della Porta and Dieter Rucht • Appendices Research instruments • Appendix A General group portrait • Appendix B Session report • Appendix C Discourse protocol • Index