bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Deliberative Pedagogy in the Community: Connecting Deliberative Dialogue, Community Engagement, and Democratic Education
Authors: Longo Nicholas V.
Published: May 2020

This essay offer insights into civic education programs and practices which attempt to bridge pedagogical divides by offering an approach to deliberative dialogue that goes beyond the classroom and into the community. This more collaborative model draws upon historical and contemporary examples of what I have termed “deliberative education in the community,” and offers the promise of a different kind of politics, model of engagement, and style of education in higher education. The essay concludes with a call for a more collaborative approach to engaged teaching and learning.
Deliberative Democracy and Illiteracy: Exploring a Theoretical Gap
Authors: Bhatia Udit
Published: May 2020

In this essay, I demonstrate that literacy is not necessary for participation in a deliberative democracy. First, I examine the literature on the subject and demonstrate how the necessity of literacy has either been assumed or left entirely unquestioned. I argue that this is a significant gap with major conceptual and normative significance since several democracies have very high illiteracy rates. I reflect upon the overwhelming focus on ideal theory as a method of conceptual and normative analysis, and its inability to provide guidance in cases that depart radically from the ideal- but which are a normal feature of political life in many societies. Next, I examine hypothetical reasons that might be offered against the possibility of illiterate citizens participating meaningfully in the deliberative democratic process. I discuss what it means to be informed, by examining the informational requirements that central principles of deliberative democracy impose upon citizens. This is not an exhaustive account of what it means to be politically informed, but I hope that demonstrating how citizens can satisfy these necessary conditions is instructive in highlighting biases implicit in the objections to my thesis. I highlight the role of non-literary sources and informal political conversation and argue that, while deliberative democrats are correct in criticizing them for their weak deliberative quality, they ought to recognize the informational role that such sites play in the deliberative system. Finally, I end by examining how scepticism towards the possibility of deliberative democracy in semi-literate societies is rooted in biases against non-western experiences of the public sphere and political communication. Deliberative democracy can operate, imperfectly perhaps, even in such unfavourable conditions.
New Ideas on Public Deliberation from Young Scholars. Introduction: Innovations in Deliberative Electoral Designs
Authors: Gastil John , Richards Jr Robert C.
Published: May 2020

In this introduction, we discuss the importance of innovation in advancing deliberative democratic theory and practice. Prior examples reviewed include the Citizens’ Jury, the Deliberative Poll, the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly, and particularly the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review. We then preview the five essays that make up this special section of the Journal of Public Deliberation, which collects writings by graduate students who participated in a summer seminar on deliberative democracy. These essays propose ways to advance electoral deliberation in the U.S. and Guam, in classrooms, newsrooms, meeting rooms, and online discussions. The innovations suggest new ways to think about lobbying, teaching, reporting, campaigning, and voting, and many combine different deliberative mechanisms to maximize the potential for public talk to create a more inclusive and influential deliberative politics.
Teaching, Practicing, and Performing Deliberative Democracy in the Classroom
Authors: Cole Hayley J.
Published: May 2020

Inspired by the Citizens Initiative Review Process in Oregon, Healthy Democracy, and the Living Voters Guide, this paper proposes that undergraduate educators should teach, practice, and perform deliberative democracy in the classroom. This paper will identify deliberation as a tool for resolving difficulties in current democratic practices and propose a specific classroom activity to teach deliberative skills. The sample undergraduate activity involves student research, local political leaders coming to speak and answer questions, and in-class deliberations. Using survey data collected from the students/participants, it was found that the activity had positive learning outcomes for students. Students reported feeling more knowledgeable and informed about the democratic process the ballot measure on which students deliberated (Missouri’s Proposition E from the 2012 election). Results also suggest that this activity allowed for students to learn about and gain confidence in argumentation, advocacy, deliberation, and democracy.
Deliberative Television: Encouraging Substantive, Citizen-Driven News
Authors: Muddiman Ashley , Meier Matthew R.
Published: May 2020

With Americans’ confidence in the news media dwindling, the quality of programming declining, and audiences turning elsewhere, the American news media is at a crossroads. We argue that news outlets should consider a new form of deliberation-based programming for local news coverage as a means of responding to these problems. As a basis for the programming, we build on public journalism (Rosen & Merritt, 1994) and deliberative citizen panels (Knobloch, Gastil, Reedy, & Walsh, 2013). By engaging citizens in the production of news, media outlets not only stand to gain viewers by increasing the quality of their issue coverage, but they also could secure their claim as a public institution providing a valuable public good. We urge media outlets to consider turning to citizen panels to determine which issues are salient and to engage in structured deliberations about those issues, which can be captured and built into content packages for use in news programming. In so doing, news outlets can help activate viewers by positioning them not as passive consumers but as engaged citizens prepared for public deliberation.
The People’s Lobby: A Model for Online Activist Deliberation
Authors: Swift Jeffrey C.
Published: May 2020

This article presents a model for a “People’s Lobby,” a digital process of deliberation and activism that allows citizens to have their voices heard on important political issues. The model described in this proposal attempts to achieve deliberation for its own sake, but also for the sake of an activist intervention geared toward immediate response—a process commonly called lobbying. In other words, this is a model that combines the fairness and inclusivity of deliberation with the prodding tension of organized activist lobbying. The People’s Lobby might not completely counteract the effects of more conventional corporate lobbying and other mass-organizational pressures, but if it increases the impact of citizens’ reflective and deliberative voices even marginally, it will be well worth the effort.
The State of Our Field: Introduction to the Special Issue
Authors: Black Laura W. , Thomas Nancy L. , Shaffer Timothy J.
Published: May 2020

This article introduces the special “State of the Field” issue. The essay highlights some of the key tensions that our field is wrestling with at the moment, and advocates that we think carefully about the terms we use to describe our work. It previews the articles in this special issue and urges future work in the field to take up the ideas, questions, and challenges posed by these essays.
Repairing the Breach: The Power of Dialogue to Heal Relationships and Communities
Authors: Stains Jr. Robert R.
Published: May 2020

Dialogue can be a powerful force for healing communities and relationships broken by divisions of identity, values, religion and world-views. This article explores the reparative effects of dialogue and the elements that make them possible: re-authoring stories, communicating from the heart and witnessing others’ identities in constructive ways.
Deliberative Democracy, Public Work, and Civic Agency
Authors: Boyte Harry C.
Published: May 2020

This essay locates deliberation and deliberative theory as an important strand in a larger interdisciplinary and political movement, civic agency. The civic agency movement, and its related politics, a politics of civic empowerment, include a set of developing practices and concepts which enhance the capacities of diverse groups of people to work across differences to solve problems, create things of common value, and negotiate a shared democratic way of life. Stirrings of civic agency can be seen in many settings, including efforts to recover the civic purposes and revitalize the civic cultures of institutions such as schools and colleges.
A Brief Reflection on the Brazilian Participatory Experience
Authors: Coelho Vera Schattan Pereira
Published: May 2020

The article highlights Brazilian participatory experiences such as the participatory budget and the policy councils and conferences. Based on research done by the author on daily routines and policy impacts of these forums, it is argued that there is still a long way before fulfilling normative expectations. In light of these challenges, reflections about how to move forward in the future are presented.
The Critical Role of Local Centers and Institutes in Advancing Deliberative Democracy
Authors: Carcasson Martin
Published: May 2020

Utilizing the development and early history of the Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation as an example, this paper makes the case for expanding the number of and the level of support for such campus-based centers as critical resources for expanding deliberative democracy. Due to their ability to not only provide deliberative capacity to the community, but also to attract students to our field and equip with them with essential skills, to strengthen the connection of colleges and universities to their local communities, and to contribute to the further development of deliberative theory and practice, these local “hubs of democracy” represent a natural “win-win-win-win” that warrants significant focus as we work to develop the deliberative culture of our communities.
A Path to the Next Form of (Deliberative) Democracy
Authors: Scully Patrick L.
Published: May 2020

Supporters of deliberative democracy must work through complex tradeoffs if we hope to realize the full potential of empowered civic engagement in which citizens employ multiple forms of action and change. In order to sustain citizens’ interest, time, and resources in creating a robust civic infrastructure, we need to engage them in more highly empowered forms of civic engagement than is now typical of many deliberative initiatives. Our field’s strong emphasis on temporary public consultations diverts a disproportionate amount of time, intellectual capital, and other resources from efforts to improve the ability of citizens and local communities to have stronger, more active, and direct roles in shaping their collective futures. One set of choices facing us centers on tensions between reformism and more fundamental, even revolutionary changes to democratic politics. Other key tensions are rooted in aspirations for deliberative democracy to serve as both an impartial resource and as a catalyst for action.
The State of the Field in Light of the State of our Democracy: My Democracy Anxiety Closet
Authors: McCoy Martha
Published: May 2020

There is a large and troubling gap between the promise of deliberative innovations and the most prevalent practices of our largely dysfunctional democracy. A web of factors is widening this gap and increasing the urgency of addressing it. With democracy in crisis, the deliberative civic field is engaging in more collaborative efforts and in more pointed conversations about how to have a systemic impact. To have any chance of improving the state of democracy, our field needs to: 1) envision and work toward structural change; 2) find more compelling ways to describe empowered public participation and more welcoming entry points for experiencing it; and 3) address the challenge of equity head-on. As a field, we have begun to address the first two, though we have much more to do. Our field has been more reticent to address the challenge of equity.
Review of Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home by Susan Clark and Woden Teachout (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012)
Authors: Haas Samantha
Published: May 2020

Review of Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home by Susan Clark and Woden Teachout (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012).
Review of Democracy in Motion: Evaluating the Practice and Impact of Deliberative Civic Engagement edited by Tina Nabatchi, John Gastil, G. Michael Weiksner, and Matt Leighninger (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012)
Authors: Becker Jack A.
Published: May 2020

Review of Democracy in Motion: Evaluating the Practice and Impact of Deliberative Civic Engagement edited by Tina Nabatchi, John Gastil, G. Michael Weiksner, and Matt Leighninger (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
On the Westerness of Deliberation Research
Authors: Min Seong-Jae
Published: May 2020

This essay suggests that the issue of culture is vital to advance deliberation theories and practices. After discussing whether deliberative democracy is a Western-specific or universal concept, it argues that current deliberation research is heavily immersed in Western cultural and methodological standards. An empirical portion also suggests that the positive effects of deliberation were greater for Western participants as opposed to non-Western participants. It argues that deliberation theories and research should be expanded so that they can include more cultural sensibilities.
Reason-Giving In Deliberative Forums
Authors: Adams Brian E.
Published: May 2020

One aspect of deliberation is giving reasons to support a position. In this article, I explore how citizens engage in this activity by developing a framework that breaks down reason-giving into component parts, applying it to a set of eight National Issues Forums. Deliberators typically provided evidence (usually in the form of factual statements) to support their conclusions, but frequently did not tie them together with an infrastructure of logical and causal connections. Deliberators engaged in reason-giving by presenting evidence but did not explicate the underlying logic of their positions. This suggests that deliberative research should focus greater attention on understanding the conditions that encourage and facilitate the effective use of evidence to support conclusions, as well as how patterns of reason-giving influence deliberative quality.
Deliberative Transformative Moments: A New Concept as Amendment to the Discourse Quality Index
Authors: Jaramillo Maria Clara , Steiner Jürg
Published: May 2020

Deliberative Transformative Moments (DTM) is a new concept that serves as an amendment to the DQI. With this new concept it is easier to get at the quick give-and-take of discussions of small groups of ordinary citizens. As an illustration, we apply the concept to discussions about the peace process among Colombian ex-combatants, ex-guerrillas and ex-paramilitaries. Specifically, we show how personal stories can transform a discussion from a low to a high level of deliberation and how they can have the opposite effect. To increase the level of deliberation in the general population, we recommend that good illustrations of DTM’s should be part of the school programs from an early age on, so that children learn how to discuss with others who have different opinions and values.
What Explains the Success of Participatory Budgeting? Evidence from Seoul Autonomous Districts
Authors: Choi Intae
Published: May 2020

In this study, we examine the association between the success of participatory budgeting and a number of variables that characterizes the participatory process in light of the participatory budgeting recently adopted by autonomous districts in Seoul. Specifically, we consider three variables (the number, attendance rate, and level of expertise of the participatory budgeting committee members), and examine the association between these three variables and the success of the participatory process, as measured by the amount of budget included in the official budget of the district. We find that only the level of expertise of the committee members has a significantly positive association with the measured level of success of the participation.
Flexibility, Argumentation and Confrontation. How Deliberative Minipublics Can Affect Policies on Controversial Issues
Authors: Ravazzi Stefania , Pomatto Gianfranco
Published: May 2020

Over the last few decades, deliberative minipublics have been used as inclusive and innovative practices to integrate traditional policy-making. Because of their policy-oriented aim, but also owing to the usually not legally-binding nature, some scholars have recently pointed out the importance of understanding how and to what extent they actually manage to influence the decisions of public authorities, especially when they deal with highly controversial issues, such as locally unwanted land use or ethic matters.This article has the aim of offering a contribution in this direction, by presenting the findings of a comparative analysis of two deliberative processes promoted by public authorities to integrate decision-making in order to deal with highly controversial issues. The two processes had significantly different impacts on the final policies. The analysis, conducted by means of ethnographic and qualitative methods, has shown that how the minipublics were designed and how deliberation was put in practice were crucial aspects in determining the effective influence of the minipublics on policy decisions. In particular, the use of a strictly deliberative design on such contentious issues has proved to be counterproductive, because it has generated distortions and produced institutional conflicts, while the use of a hybrid path, although not free from problems, has proved to be a more effective solution.
Where Are the Boundaries of Deliberation and Participation? A Transatlantic Debate
Authors: Alarcón Pau , Font Joan
Published: May 2020

This article uses recent empirical results from a comparative Southern European study to show that the participatory practices commonly developed in this area are quite different from some of the common ideas related to deliberation in the English-speaking world. One of the main differences lies in the characteristics of the promoters, since most of them are top-down experiences organized by public authorities. The other main difference lies in the role played by equality concerns, which are quite marginal in most of these processes. In other aspects, like the role of participation professionals or the existence of important inequalities in the participation of different groups of citizens, the experiences developed in this area are not as different from what most of the comparative research has shown.
Review of Democracy as Popular Sovereignty by Filimon Peonidis (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013)
Authors: McIvor David W.
Published: May 2020

Review of Democracy as Popular Sovereignty by Filimon Peonidis (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013).
Review of Deliberative Systems: Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale edited by John Parkinson and Jane Mansbridge (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Authors: Min John
Published: May 2020

Review of Parkinson, John, and Jane Mansbridge, Deliberative systems: Deliberative democracy at the large scale (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
Inclusion, Equality, and Discourse Quality in Citizen Deliberations on Broadband
Authors: Han Soo-Hye , Schenck-Hamlin William , Schenck-Hamlin Donna
Published: May 2020

Proponents of deliberative democracy have theorized that in order to contribute to improved decision-making, citizens should aim for high levels of inclusion, participation equality, and reciprocal, rational reasoning when they convene to discuss policy issues. To measure the extent to which these goals are achieved in actual practice, the authors analyzed transcripts from 13 public forums on the topic of broadband access in rural communities. Demographic attributes of participants were compared with their utterances during deliberation, coded by five quality variables: justification rationality, common good orientation, constructive politics, interactivity, and consideration of trade-offs. Analysis showed that turnout, quantity and quality of discourse varied significantly across different socioeconomic groups. For example, individuals with college education were more likely to provide higher levels of justification, alternative and mediating proposals, and consideration of the common good compared to those without college education. Non-salaried participants expressed the lowest level of justification for their arguments and showed significantly less interactivity with other participants. Addressing these differences requires greater effort by forum organizers to prepare participants through repeated, sequential forum experiences.
Understanding Participant Representativeness in Deliberative Events: A Case Study Comparing Probability and Non-Probability Recruitment Strategies
Authors: Griffin Jamie , Abdel-Monem Tarik , Tomkins Alan , Richardson Amanda , Jorgensen Stacia
Published: May 2020

Deliberative event participants often differ in meaningful ways from the population they are intended to represent; however, less is known about whether various recruitment methods influence participant representativeness. Furthermore, a better understanding of where in the recruitment process lack of representation occurs is needed. We present a framework for understanding why event attendees might not represent the target population and then compare two different recruitment strategies using this framework. Specifically, we consider a Deliberative Poll that used a random-digit-dial telephone recruitment survey and a deliberative event that used a convenience sample web recruitment survey. For two stages in the recruitment process, we calculate nonresponse errors for statistics assessing demographic characteristics and confidence in local government. Notably, both recruitment methods resulted in event attendees that were older and better educated than the population they were intended to represent providing evidence that probability recruitment methods do not necessarily outperform nonprobability methods. Additionally, we demonstrate that aspects of the recruitment process other than the recruitment survey sampling method used can influence participant representativeneess. We conclude by discussing adjustments to the recruitment process that might improve the representativeness of event attendees.
Deliberating While Voting: The Antecedents, Dynamics, And Consequences Of Talking While Completing Ballots In Two Vote-By-Mail States
Authors: Reedy Justin , Gastil John
Published: May 2020

An overlooked context for citizen deliberation occurs when voters discuss their ballots with others while completing them at home. Voting by mail (or “absentee voting”) creates an opportunity for informal deliberation in the midst of exercising a basic form of citizen power. We examined this understudied context by blending prior theory with qualitative observations of dyadic and small-group absentee voter discussions to identify common features of such talk, which range from cynical joking and speculation on election outcomes to observing norms of politeness and engaging in heated argument. The hypothesized antecedents and consequences of those behaviors were examined in a survey of 295 Washington and Oregon voters’ recollections of their ballot discussions. Results showed that pro-deliberative features of discussion were reported most often by voters with more formal education and political knowledge. Contrary to hypotheses, the strength of voters’ partisan identities bore no relation to deliberative behavior. Finally, the presence of key discussion features had many of the expected effects on voters’ confidence in ballot choices and their respect for the electoral process, particularly for those voters with less political knowledge.
Does Culture Matter for Deliberation? Linguistic Speech Cultures and Parliamentary Deliberation in Switzerland
Authors: Pedrini Seraina
Published: May 2020

Even though culture is seen as an important aspect of deliberation, empirical research on culture’s effects on deliberation is almost completely absent. This paper offers one of the first systematic empirical studies of cultural underpinnings on deliberation. It explores two conceptions of culture, namely ‘holistic’ vs. ‘contextual’. In the ‘holistic’ approach, culture is assumed to be a constant, while the ‘contextual’ approach assumes adaptive rationality of actors to different contexts. As an extension of the ‘contextual’ approach, this paper also explores the effects of different compositions of cultural groups on the quality of deliberation. The effects of the two approaches are evaluated by linking linguistic groups in the committee and plenary debates of the Swiss parliament to a broad variety of deliberative standards. The findings reveal that linguistic groups do not differ much in their deliberative behaviour, which defies ‘holistic’ approaches to culture. Rather, the results underline that speech culture is highly context-driven, which is indicative of a ‘contextual’ approach to culture. However, culture still plays a role, but mainly in the context of group composition: the proportion of minority-language speakers affects several deliberative indicators such as respect, common good orientation and clarifying questions.
Review of Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy by Josh Lerner (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014) and Making Democracy Fun: How Game Design Can Empower Citizens and Transform Politics by Josh Lerner (Cambridge, MA: MIT
Authors: McNulty Stephanie
Published: May 2020

Review of Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy by Josh Lerner (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014) and Making Democracy Fun: How Game Design Can Empower Citizens and Transform Politics by Josh Lerner (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2014).
Review of Facebook Democracy: The Architecture of Disclosure and the Threat of Public Life by José Marichal (Farnham, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012)
Authors: Foote Justin G.
Published: May 2020

Review of Facebook Democracy: The Architecture of Disclosure and the Threat of Public Life by José Marichal (Farnham, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012)
Review of From Deliberation to Demonstration: Political Rallies in France, 1868-1939, by Paula Cossart, trans. Clare Tame (Colchester, UK: ECPR Press, 2013)
Authors: Lovit Alex
Published: May 2020

Review of From Deliberation to Demonstration: Political Rallies in France, 1868-1939, by Paula Cossart, trans. Clare Tame (Colchester, UK: ECPR Press, 2013).
Assessing the Public’s Views on Prison and Prison Alternatives: Findings from Public Deliberation Research in Three Australian Cities
Authors: Simpson Paul L. , Butler Tony
Published: May 2020

Consistent with other high income countries in the West, prisons are being built or expanded in every Australian state and territory to house increasing numbers of prisoners. Despite decreasing crime victimisation rates in Australia, incarceration rates have doubled over the last thirty years. Australia’s use of imprisonment has major economic and social equity costs, especially given the over-representation of Indigenous Australians and other socially disadvantaged groups in prison. Evidence increasingly points to the limitation of incarceration as a tool for effective offender rehabilitation suggesting that a new policy agenda on responses to offending is warranted. Yet, public opinion is generally assessed and perceived to hold punitive views towards offenders. Such views are typically assessed using non-deliberative opinion polls. Research and perceived public opinion of this kind can be an obstacle to policy reform and a justification for prison expansion. This paper reports on a project that uses a Citizens Jury approach in three Australian cities. The aim of these Citizens Juries was to provide an opportunity for citizens to critically engage in and deliberate on the issues that underlie offending, and society’s responses to it. This paper provides substantive insight into the considered views of members of the public on issues of criminal justice and makes recommendations about the value of the Citizens Jury method to explore public opinion on criminal justice issues. This has broader implications for the use of deliberative methodologies in other highly politicised public policy fields.
Gender and Public Issues Deliberations in Named and Anonymous Online Environments
Authors: Clark Christopher H. , Bordwell Daniel T. , Avery Patricia G.
Published: May 2020

Online deliberations in social studies classrooms are increasingly feasible as more schools incorporate online learning environments into their programs. The present study investigates student participation in online deliberations with particular attention to (1) the differences between opinion expression and participation in anonymous versus named conditions, (2) whether the magnitude of any such differences varies by gender, (3) whether males and females express a preference for deliberation in named or anonymous online environments, and (4) the impact of named and anonymous environments on developing students’ deliberative skills. When opinion expression and participation results are analyzed by gender, we find that differences between females and males that manifest in named conditions disappear when discussing anonymously. We find that female students are significantly more likely to prefer discussing in anonymous environments. Finally, we find that students deliberating anonymously express more opinions in a subsequent deliberation than those in the named condition.
Leaders’ Response to Terrorism: The Role of Epideictic Rhetoric in Deliberative Democracies
Authors: Vatnoey Eirik
Published: May 2020

New initiatives in deliberative democracy theory allow for a broader understanding of the different rhetorical practices that influence deliberation in real life settings. This solves the “problem” rhetoricians have long had with deliberative theory: that political communication is reduced to rational deliberation, disregarding a lot of non-deliberative forms of communication that are essential for the formation of public opinion and political decisions. This article elaborates on the role of epideictic rhetoric and provides an example as to how we might benefit from combining the two theoretical traditions. Often reduced to ceremonial practice, the epideictic genre has long been overlooked in political communication research. However, epideictic rhetoric plays a crucial role in shaping collective identity and values, thereby influencing citizens’ and politicians’ inclinations and scope of action in future deliberation. The article is concluded by a case study of the Norwegian Prime Minster Jens Stoltenberg’s address to the nation after the terrorist attack in Oslo on July 22nd 2011. By enforcing collective values such as democracy, solidarity, and openness towards other cultures the Prime Minister’s speech contributed to what became one of the dominant frames through which the attack and related issues were interpreted and debated.
Review of Deliberation, Democracy, and Civic Forums: Improving Equality and Publicity by Christopher F. Karpowitz and Chad Raphael (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014)
Authors: McKerrow Raymie E.
Published: May 2020

Review of Deliberation, Democracy, and Civic Forums: Improving Equality and Publicity by Christopher F. Karpowitz and Chad Raphael (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Negotiating Deliberative Ideals in Theory and Practice: A Case Study in “Hybrid Design”
Authors: Mongoven Ann , Lake Danielle , Platt Jodyn , Kardia Sharon
Published: May 2020

Much literature on deliberation is derived from ideal theory. However, deliberations are inevitably non-ideal in two ways: (1) many deliberative ideals are in tension with each other; and 2) intended balancing of ideals cannot be attained perfectly amidst the messiness of real-world recruitment and conversation. This essay explores both kinds of non-ideality in respect to a case study: the 2011 community deliberative processes on a state public health “biobank,” the Michigan BioTrust for Health. We follow two recommendations from major contemporary theorists of deliberation: to be transparent about how competing deliberative goals are negotiated in deliberative design; and to publicize case studies that report associated struggles and results. We present our “hybrid design” that sought to negotiate tensions within three families of deliberative goals: goals of representation and inclusion; goals of discourse-framing; and goals of political impact. We offer deliberative facilitators tentative suggestions based on this case study, concluding deliberations need not be “ideal” to be transformative.
Framing and power in public deliberation with climate change: Critical reflections on the role of deliberative practitioners
Authors: Blue Gwendolyn , Dale Jacquie
Published: May 2020

Drawing on the experiences of a deliberative practitioner and critical social scientist involved in the planning, production and implementation of a deliberative initiative on climate change, this paper reflects on nuances of framing and power in practical settings. Decisions about framing, some of them more conscious than others, influence the process of opinion formation among participants as well as the outcomes of the deliberation. Framing enacts power through the selection of deliberative approaches, the viewpoints that are admitted into the procedure, the alternatives that are defined, as well as the solutions that are ultimately proposed. Grounded in reflexivity as a methodological approach, the goal of this analysis is to make the democratization of public responses to climate change more reflexive and open to transformative learning at individual and institutional levels.
Tracing the Impact of Proposals from Participatory Processes: Methodological Challenges and Substantive Lessons
Authors: Font Joan , Pasadas del Amo Sara , Smith Graham
Published: May 2020

Our understanding of participatory processes is increasing rapidly. However, one area that has received sparse attention is the impact of the proposals from participatory processes on the policy and practice of public administrations. Which proposals are converted into actual policy and practice; which are modified or simply ignored? The field lacks a systematic understanding of the fate of proposals. This paper reflects on the methodological strategy adopted by the Cherry-picking project to analyze the fate of proposals from participatory processes in Spanish municipalities. The innovative project studied the impact of 611 proposals from 39 participatory processes across 25 municipalities. The paper not only describes and discusses the methodological challenges faced by the project, but also presents preliminary findings and a review of the substantive lessons learned through the design and fieldwork process.
Deliberation, Difference and Democratic Practice in Malawi
Authors: Ziwoya Fletcher O.
Published: May 2020

Since the introduction of multiparty politics in Malawi in 1994, grassroots communities have been engaged in dialogue on issues affecting democratic and national development processes in the country. This paper employs Martin Heidegger’s hermeneutics and James Paul Gee’s discourse analysis to examine community views regarding public deliberation as a form of political participation in Malawi. Heideggerian hermeneutics provides a foundation for Hans-Gorg Gadamer’s principles of philosophical hermeneutics that are limited to historicism, non-authorial intention, and the fusion of horizons. This study adopted Heideggarian phenomenology of Dasein (“being there”) as an interpretive framework to analyze interview text. This paper argues that the main issue for the grassroots communities in Malawi goes beyond democratic participation. Central to the interpretation of the communal dialogue is an understanding of the socio-cultural, economic and political atmosphere within which the Malawian grassroots social actors perform. As a way of understanding how citizens at the grassroots frame democratic participation in a volatile atmosphere, a study was conducted involving 30 citizens ranging from local villagers to government officials in select local councils in Malawi. This paper documents the analysis of citizen sentiments regarding some democratization problems facing local councils and their solutions. The study was guided by three main research questions: 1) What does civic participation mean for the citizens? 2) How do the citizens define social problems? 3) What needed to be done to facilitate effective participation by citizens?
Constructing a United Disability Community: The National Council on Disability’s Discourse of Unity in the Deliberative System around Disability Rights
Authors: Hughes Jessica M. F.
Published: May 2020

The National Council on Disability (NCD) is a federal agency that connects members of a broad disability community to federal policymakers within the deliberative system (Mansbridge, 2012) that constitutes the disability rights movement in the U.S. In this critical discourse analysis, the author considers the Council's depiction of the deliberative system in its publication Equality of opportunity: The making of the Americans with Disabilities Act (NCD, 2010). Paying particular attention to discourses of unity and difference within this history of the ADA and in NCD’s About Us web pages, the study looks to understand how the Council’s depiction of the disability community and portrayal of its own role within the deliberative system impacts their legitimacy within the disability rights movement. Interrogating the ways in which unity is privileged over diversity in NCD’s history of the ADA shows how the Council exhibits a consensus democratic orientation that presents the disability community as an unwavering force to be reckoned with, positions the National Council on Disability at a position of power within its deliberative system, and highlights the deliberative nature of NCD’s mission. However, the ways in which NCD’s history of the ADA downplays difference in favor of unity sidesteps stakeholder concerns and fails to engage with social difference as a resource for inclusion and collaboration. Further, NCD discourse works to define human worth in terms of work and deliberation in terms of consensus in ways that reinforce stigma around disability and exclude underrepresented groups. The author offers some practical suggestions aimed at helping the Council and other policymakers and leaders in social justice movements to incorporate more pluralist perspectives to address issues of exclusion.
How Far Can We Go with Deliberative Research at Dangerous Places?
Authors: Steiner Jürg
Published: May 2020

This paper reflects on several past research projects that required convening deliberative discussions in dangerous places. It raises questions about the safety of participants, collaboration with government agencies, and working within the constraints of ethical research practices. The reflection offers practical insights into the conduct of deliberative research and practice in difficult and dangerous locations.
Review of Do-It-Yourself Democracy by Caroline Lee (Oxford University Press, 2015)
Authors: Beem Christopher
Published: May 2020

Review of Do-It-Yourself Democracy by Caroline Lee (Oxford University Press, 2015)
Equality and Equity in Deliberation: Introduction to the Special Issue
Authors: Abdullah Carolyne , Karpowitz Christopher F. , Raphael Chad
Published: May 2020

This article introduces the special issue focused on equality and equity in deliberative democracy. The essay proposes some initial working definitions of equity and equality and offers reasons why scholars and practitioners should attend to both. We outline the basic structure of the issue’s three sections and preview the contributors’ articles, with special attention to the opportunities and the challenges of achieving equality and equity within the deliberative system.
Ideals of Inclusion in Deliberation
Authors: Karpowitz Christopher F. , Raphael Chad
Published: May 2020

Building on prior thinking about political representation in democratic deliberation, we argue for four ideals of inclusion, each of which is most appropriate to a different situation. These principles of inclusion depend not only on the goals of a deliberation, but also on its level of empowerment in the political system, and its openness to all who want to participate. Holistic and open deliberations can most legitimately incorporate and decide for the people as a whole if they are open to all who want to participate and affirmatively recruit perspectives that would be underrepresented otherwise. Chicago Community Policing beat meetings offer an example. Holistic and restricted forums (such as the latter stages of some participatory budgeting processes) should recruit stratified random samples of the demos, but must also ensure that problems of tokenism are overcome by including a critical mass of the least powerful perspectives, so that their views can be aired and heard more fully and effectively. Forums that aim to improve relations between social sectors and peoples should provide open access for all who are affected by the issues (relational and open), if possible, or recruit a stratified random sample of all affected, when necessary (relational and restricted). In either case, proportional representation of the least advantaged perspectives is necessary. However, when deliberation focuses on relations between a disempowered group and the rest of society, or between unequal peoples, it is often most legitimate to over-sample the least powerful and even to create opportunities for the disempowered to deliberate among themselves so that their perspectives can be adequately represented in small and large group discussions. We illustrate this discussion with examples of atypical Deliberative Polls on Australia’s reconciliation with its indigenous community and the Roma ethnic minority in Europe.
Affinity Groups, Enclave Deliberation, and Equity
Authors: Abdullah Carolyne , Karpowitz Christopher F. , Raphael Chad
Published: May 2020

There is growing appreciation for the value of holding enclave dialogue and deliberation among marginalized peoples in their own affinity groups, as one stage in a larger conversation with the broader public or with public officials. These enclaves may be disempowered by enduring political inequalities, or in relation to a particular issue under discussion, or by the act of deliberation itself. Recent research and practice has demonstrated that well-structured dialogue and deliberation in enclaves can increase the inclusion, participation, and influence of members of society who have been excluded from public discourse, while avoiding the dangers of coercion, sectarianism, conformism, error, and illegitimacy. We review normative arguments and empirical evidence for the judicious use of affinity group enclaves to advance equity. We show multiple ways in which enclaves can be incorporated into democratic projects and processes that also include discussion among more representative samples of the public and with government. We offer design principles for affinity group discussion, which are illustrated by a recent series of dialogues on Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation, organized in the U.S. by Everyday Democracy. Finally, we discuss conditions in which enclave deliberation is most likely to be needed to create equity and suggest an agenda for future research.
The Virtual Agora Project: A Research Design for Studying Democratic Deliberation
Authors: Muhlberger Peter
Published: May 2020

In 2001, the National Science Foundation provided $2.1 million in funding for the Virtual Agora Project, a three-year exploration of the effects of online and face-to-face democratic deliberation. The project seeks to shed light on deliberation's effects on individuals, the community, and decision quality as well as how best to use technology to achieve positive outcomes. Of special concern to the project is determining whether deliberation builds better citizens. This paper describes the research design of this project to stimulate future research on deliberation.
Promoting Inclusion, Equity and Deliberation in a National Dialogue on Mental Health
Authors: Campbell Tom , Goodrich Raquel , Lukensmeyer Carolyn J. , Schugurensky Daniel
Published: May 2020

The struggle to find adequate mental health care is complicated by underlying factors of discrimination, cultural barriers, lack of early recognition, and inadequate resources. Traditionally, it has been difficult to talk about mental health issues because of fear of bias, cultural sensitivities and the lack of a safe place to discuss public concerns. This has left many families to grapple with problems in silence. As a result of President Obama’s call to action on mental health, six deliberative democracy organizations formed an initiative called Creating Community Solutions (CCS). Their goal was to develop a multi-strategy program to respond to the challenges of reducing barriers to mental health and to create greater access to mental health services, especially for youth and underrepresented populations. This article focuses on how practitioners used extensive outreach and designed the process to reduce the inequalities participants can face in deliberation, allowing them to generate action plans for creating more equitable access to services. Through six-hour town hall meetings, community conversations, and an innovative texting platform, over 57,000 persons participated in the project, including community members, people with lived experience, mental health providers and youth.
Equity through Learning to Listen: The Case of Public Discussion on Body-Worn Cameras in Madison, Wisconsin
Authors: Cramer Katherine J.
Published: May 2020

This article analyzes practitioners’ attempt to achieve equity in a public input process on a local racial justice issue: whether or not the police department should implement body-worn video cameras. The insights of the two practitioners who led the public input process reveal 4 main lessons. First, equity in public deliberation is achieved sometimes by intentionally excluding some voices. Second, members of marginalized groups are motivated at times by the potential to be heard. Third, the case suggests that for some people public talk is not about achieving democracy; it is instead about life and survival. Finally, the case suggests that in order for deliberation to contribute to greater equity in democracy, people in power need to learn to listen to previously marginalized voices.