title: [Ethics committees and democracy (some thoughts about the French example)].
abstract: Ethics committees are not usually written into the definition of democracy. Their missions are, however part of a search for legitimacy on the part of public authorities. By ensuring the spread of ethical thinking in society by means of their advices and recommendations, national committees contribute to a "concerted process of elaboration of the law of bioethics" beyond the traditional mechanisms of the creation of standards. Their composition, marked by pluralism and a multidisciplinary approach, reveals the search for a certain representativeness. The local committees and groups of ethical thinking, although without a "recommendatory" function, also have a vocation to be part of the organisation of the public debate.
authors: Centre hospitalier de Béziers.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Martinez
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003709:Democracy; D017041:Ethics Committees; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research; D005602:France; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D011639:Public Opinion; D014481:United States