espanolEl proposito de este capitulo es demostrar que la democracia deliberativa es una reaccion a la crisis de legitimidad de la democracia liberal, en terminos historicos, y en el ambito academico, representa una salida teorica a las propuestas economicas y elitistas que homogenizaron durante el siglo xx las ideas e interpretaciones de la democracia. El estudio se realiza a traves de la discusion de un marco teorico en tres niveles: la construccion teorico-conceptual de la democracia en Occidente, la genesis historica de la democracia en sus versiones representativa y deliberativa y, finalmente, la discusion en torno a la participacion ciudadana en la realizacion de la democracia como proceso. En este documento se genera una notable contribucion a la desmitificacion de la democracia liberal, se plantea una poderosa critica al modelo representativo y se defiende una postura que resignifica el concepto de participacion politica. Como conclusion, el capitulo permite comprender que la participacion de la ciudadania en el ejercicio de toma de decisiones es un indicador de la madurez de los sistemas democraticos, en cuanto la democracia participativadeliberativa es el paradigma de realizacion del gobierno popular en los regimenes contemporaneos. EnglishThe purpose of this chapter is to show that deliberative democracy, in historical terms, is a reaction to the crisis of liberal democracy legitimacy and, in academia, represents a theoretical solution to economic and elitist proposals that homogenized ideas and interpretations of democracy during the 20th century. The study is conducted through the discussion of a theoretical framework on three levels: the theoretical-conceptual construction of democracy in the West, the historical genesis of democracy in its representative and deliberative versions and, finally, the debate around citizen participation in the realization of democracy as a process. This document makes a significant contribution to the demystification of liberal democracy, introduces a powerful critique of the representative model, and defends a position that redefines the concept of political participation. In conclusion, the chapter allows to understand that the participation of citizens in decision-making is an indicator of the maturity of democratic systems, since participatory-deliberative democracy is the paradigm of achievement of popular government in contemporary regimes.