Reaching Out to Overcome Political Apathy: Building Participatory Capacity through Deliberative Engagement

A common objection against deliberative democracy relates to the impression that citizens, in general, are unwilling to participate in democratic politics. We contribute to the growing literature that challenges this impression by analyzing the discursive profile of citizens that participate in deliberation. By discursive profile, we refer to participants' own perceived role in the democratic process and their articulated motivations for joining a deliberative forum. We find that those who turned up in face-to-face deliberation tend to be less cynical toward politics. Moreover, based on their expressed motivations for participating, it can be inferred that linking the deliberative forum to decision makers provided an initial hook to participants. However, this changed as participants completed the process. At the end of deliberations, appreciation for the process itself ended up being the most resonant sentiment. These findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses of data gathered from Australia's First Citizens' Parliament. Related Articles McBeth, Mark K. , Donna L. Lybecker, and Kacee A. Garner. 2010. “The Story of Good Citizenship: Framing Public Policy in the Context of Duty-Based versus Engaged Citizenship. ” Politics & Policy 38 (1): 1-23. http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2009. 00226.x/abstract Crowley, Kate. 2009. “Can Deliberative Democracy Be Practiced? A Subnational Policy Pathway. ” Politics & Policy 37 (5): 995-1021. http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2009. 00208.x/abstract Stephan, Mark. 2004. “Citizens as Representatives: Bridging the Democratic Theory Divides. ” Politics & Policy 32 (1): 118-135. http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2004. tb00178.x/abstract Related Media Film: Citizens' Parliament. 2009. NewDemocracy. Canberra. February. http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=qWOoQwpJdrE Data and Discussion Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance. 2013. Australian National University. http://deliberativedemocracy.anu. edu.au/ Una objecion comun en contra de la democracia deliberativa es que los ciudadanos parecen estar indispuestos a participar en la politica democratica. En este articulo contribuimos a la creciente literatura que cuestiona tal impresion mediante un analisis del perfil discursivo de los ciudadanos que participan en procesos de deliberacion. Entendemos por perfil discusivo, la percepcion que tienen los ciudadanos de su propio papel como participantes en el proceso democratico y sus motivaciones para sumarse a un foro deliberativo. Encontramos que aquellos que deliberan cara a cara tienden a ser menos cinicos hacia la politica. Mas aun, basados en las motivaciones para participar que han expresado los deliberantes, inferimos que la vinculacion del foro deliberativo con los tomadores de decisiones sirvio inicialmente para enganchar el interes de los participantes. No obstante, en nuestras observaciones, este nivel de involucramiento cambio en la medida que los participantes completaron el proceso. Al culminar sus deliberaciones los participantes expresaron aprecio por el proceso mismo, siendo este el sentimiento mas relevante en nuestro estudio. Estos hallazgos estan basados en un analisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de los datos disponibles del Primer Parlamento Ciudadano de Australia.