Deliberative Polling Research Articles

Applying Deliberative Democracy in Africa: Uganda's First Deliberative Polls

Practical experiments with deliberative democracy, instituted with random samples of the public, have had success in many countries. But this approach has never before been tried in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reflecting on the first two applications in Uganda, we apply the same criteria for success commonly used for such projects in the most advanced countries. Can this approach work successfully with samples of a public low in literacy and education? Can it work on some of the critical policy choices faced by the public in rural Uganda? This essay reflects on quantitative and qualitative results from Uganda's first Deliberative Polls. We find that the projects were representative in both attitudes and demographics. They produced substantial opinion change supported by identifiable reasons. They avoided distortions from inequality and polarization. They produced actionable results that can be expected to influence policy on difficult choices.

Can Democracy be Deliberative & Participatory? The Democratic Case for Political Uses of Mini-Publics

This essay focuses on recent proposals to confer decisional status upon deliberative mini-publics such as citizens' juries, Deliberative Polls, and citizens' assemblies. Against such proposals, I argue that inserting deliberative mini-publics into political decision-making processes would diminish the democratic legitimacy of the political system as a whole. This negative conclusion invites a question: which political uses of mini-publics would yield genuinely democratic improvements? Drawing from a participatory conception of deliberative democracy, I propose several uses of mini-publics that could enhance the democratic legitimacy of political decision-making in current societies.

Deliberative polling for multistakeholder internet governance: considered judgments on access for the next billion

ABSTRACTMultistakeholder Internet governance aspires to fulfill democratic values in a process of dialogue producing results that can be considered for possible action. How can these goals be accomplished when the participants in these processes come from entities as varied as corporations, governments, civil society and academia drawn from countries all over the world? How can such a multistakeholder process embody democratic values? How can it be based on dialogue? What kinds of results can it produce? This article applies Deliberative Polling as a possible solution to this problem by using a stratified random sample of netizens, citizens of the Internet, drawn from all the relevant stakeholders of the Internet Governance Forum, engaged together in dialogue and with opinions collected in confidential questionnaires before and after deliberation. This pilot application focused on the topic of Internet access ‒ policy proposals to increase access for the next billion users. We believe it demonstrates the possibility that deliberators drawn from all these sectors can participate in substantive dialogue weighing the merits of issues and coming to specific conclusions. The pilot was limited in its duration and scale but produced, nevertheless, results that strongly support the conclusion that this approach to multistakeholder Internet governance is promising.

8-4-4 エネルギー政策を市民が考える : 3.11後の革新的エネルギー・環境戦略に関する市民討議の場の試みから(8-4 【特別セッション】エネルギー・コミュニケーション(1),Session 8 エネルギー評価・経済(エネ学含む))

8-4-4 エネルギー政策を市民が考える : 3.11後の革新的エネルギー・環境戦略に関する市民討議の場の試みから(8-4 【特別セッション】エネルギー・コミュニケーション(1),Session 8 エネルギー評価・経済(エネ学含む))

Debating Europe, transforming identities: assessing the impact of deliberative poll treatment on identity

Although there is a considerable amount of talk about transformative power of deliberation on identity, the debate in literature remains highly theoretical in underlying the benefits of deliberative model for EU Integration. So far, little empirical evidence is available on the actual impact of deliberation.Can deliberation enhance European identity?We specifically address this question by using deliberative polling quasi-experiment that involved random sample of 348 European citizens in 2 days deliberationon issuesof Europeanconcern.The comparison of citizens’ sense of belonging to both EU and nation states before and after deliberation, allowed us to explore the effects of deliberation on identity and further test it against the control group. The analyses show that when European citizens are enabled to deliberate on European issues beyond national borders their exclusive national identity decreases and they become more community minded. The observed transformation of identities is further analyzed in order to explore the relationship between European and national identity. The analyses indicate that even after deliberative treatment in which European identity has been activated the relationship between multiple identities remains compatible.

Deliberative Democracy: A Binding Methodology?

In a democracy, decisions may be taken in a number of non-violent ways. Some are taken by everybody in referendums or, after an election, by the members of parliament; almost all of these ballots and elections of the general population, as well as decisions by elected representatives, are binding. Other, usually non-binding decisions, may be made by independent commissions or public enquiries, albeit sometimes subject to a government veto; while yet further decisions of government may be influenced by consultations, public opinion surveys, deliberative polls and focus groups. Given the ever-increasing sophistication with which some forms of deliberative democracy operate, it is time to ask whether they too should be legally binding if, that is, (a) the representative sample meets certain minimum criteria, and (b) the outcome, the social choice or ranking, has passed a pre-determined threshold of support. Accordingly, this article first examines the way a social choice or ranking can be identified; next, with frequent reference to instances from across the globe, it takes an overview of the more common means of public participation; and then, in regard to item (b) above, it advocates criteria by which the outcomes of some of these democratic instruments may be deemed to be binding.

Het zou zomaar een zootje kunnen worden

New forms of participatory and deliberative democracy gain popularity alongside traditional representative democracy at the local level in the Netherlands. In this article we look at passive citizens defined as citizens who do not participate in any of the new practices. How do they perceive the shift from traditional to new forms of democracy (defined as stakeholder democracy, deliberative polling and associative or ‘do’ democracy)? We performed a Q-methodological study to find patterns of opinion among passive citizens. We found three patterns. Critical citizens are critical about both traditional representative democracy and new forms of democracy. Loyal citizens support traditional local democracy and do not think the shift to other forms is a change for the better. Distant citizens find that politicians should first and foremost uphold the law and act as referees when citizens disagree. This task has been neglected over the years but this deficiency cannot be remedied by new forms of democracy. All three patterns of opinion are cause for concern for the advocates of more participatory and deliberative democracy. While these new forms may restore faith in politics among active citizens they may simultaneously alienate passive citizens.

Clarifying relationships between participatory approaches, issues, processes, and results, through crosscutting case analysis in Japan’s environmental, energy, and food policy areas

Participatory public engagement approaches such as Consensus Conferences, Deliberative Polling®, and Planning Cells have been used to try and resolve environmental disputes in Japan; however, the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches have not been analyzed adequately or comprehensively. This paper evaluates practical applications of each of the above participatory approaches and conducts a crosscutting analysis of these applications to evaluate how effectively each approach provides scientific information to participants and to consider how the quality of deliberations that occur during these processes affect their outputs. Based on existing classification of participatory processes, and methodology for public involvement in US environmental decision-making, this study compares and contrasts the processes and outcomes of 25 participatory planning case studies in Japan. After compiling a case inventory of participatory approaches, the features of one approach are documented using qualitative analysis, and the aspects of four other approaches are confirmed using crosscutting analysis. In so doing, the likely strengths and weaknesses of each approach are suggested as follows. When discussions require an understanding of scientific knowledge, the Consensus Conference tends to be more suitable than the DP approach. If the consensus of participants is expected, the Consensus Conference is also thought to be suitable. But through a DP process or Simplified Planning Cells approach, we can know the quantitative portion of each opinion through results of ballots. In sum, new participatory approach that incorporates strengths of the Consensus Conference and the Simplified Planning Cells into Local Environmental Planning is needed. Thus, the quality of consensus building could be improved.

Ideals of Inclusion in Deliberation

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.

After the Fukushima Disaster: Japan's Nuclear Policy Change from 2011 to 2012

AbstractThis article analyzes why and how the cabinet of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) decided in September 2012 to phase‐out nuclear power plants by 2039—the decision representing a large policy change from previous energy‐supply policy, in which the dependence on nuclear power would continuously grow. In doing so, this article examines the causal relationship between three factors identified on the basis of theoretical models explaining policy change; change in the governing coalition from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to DPJ in 2009, the Fukushima accident, and the change in public opinion. Based on opinion poll and deliberative polling data, as well as discourse analyses of DPJ leaders’ statements, the article concludes that the change in public opinion on nuclear energy after the Fukushima accident was crucial in inducing the DPJ's decision to phase‐out nuclear power plants by affecting DPJ leaders' interests in vote‐ and office‐seeking. Finally, I discuss the applicability of the theoretical models developed on the basis of U.S. pluralistic cases to Japan and the issues to be explored for the further development of policy process models.

Deliberative Abilities and Influence in a Transnational Deliberative Poll (EuroPolis)

This article investigates the deliberative abilities of ordinary citizens in the context of ‘EuroPolis’, a transnational deliberative poll. Drawing upon a philosophically grounded instrument, an updated version of the Discourse Quality Index (DQI), it explores how capable European citizens are of meeting deliberative ideals; whether socio-economic, cultural and psychological biases affect the ability to deliberate; and whether opinion change results from the exchange of arguments. On the positive side, EuroPolis shows that the ideal deliberator scoring high on all deliberative standards does actually exist, and that participants change their opinions more often when rational justification is used in the discussions. On the negative side, deliberative abilities are unequally distributed: in particular, working-class members are less likely to contribute to a high standard of deliberation.

Guessing and Forgetting: A Latent Class Model for Measuring Learning

Guessing on closed-ended knowledge items is common. Under likely-to-hold assumptions, in the presence of guessing, the most common estimator of learning, difference between pre- and postprocess scores, is negatively biased. To account for guessing-related error, we develop a latent class model of how people respond to knowledge questions and identify the model with the mild assumption that people do not lose knowledge over short periods of time. A Monte Carlo simulation over a broad range of informative processes and knowledge items shows that the simple difference score is negatively biased and the method we develop here is unbiased. To demonstrate its use, we apply our model to data from Deliberative Polls. We find that estimates of learning, once adjusted for guessing, are about 13% higher. Adjusting for guessing also eliminates the gender gap in learning, and halves the pre-deliberation gender gap on political knowledge.

PATH (People Assessing Their Health) Process and Deliberative Opinion Poll for Public Scoping in Health Impact Assessment

In this literature review to compare the process to develop a suitable process for public scoping in health impact assessment, which found that the PATH and the Deliberative Opinion Poll are suitable to be developed for use by the public scoping process. The PATH is a process-oriented quality data. It helps to understand the community context deeply, the relationship between cultural traditions, community resources and valuable resource comments on the project and concerns on the impact that will affect your health. In the process of deliberative opinion poll is a process that allows for the acquisition of quantitative data to support qualitative data. Remember, making a clear picture even further. The data values and the benefits of resource comments on the project awareness, understanding of the project and Issue concerns the potential impact on the community. So these two processes are suitable for use in public scoping process.

Discussion Group Composition and Deliberation Experience

AbstractIn order to encouragee broad participation in deliberative forums, it is important to understand how people from politically less powerful groups perceive the deliberative experience and how discussion group composition affects their experiences. Using data from 27 deliberative polls from 2004, we examine how four individual characteristics (sex, age, race, and education) and randomly assigned small group composition predict participants’ attitudes about the deliberative experience. We find evidence that women, young people, non-whites, and those without college degree generally evaluate the experience positively, but find no evidence for the argument that including more people from these groups would lead to more positive deliberation experience for participants from the groups. That is, there is no interaction between minority status and group composition in predicting participants’ evaluation of the deliberation process.

Communication and Citizenship: Reflections on Classroom Practice

This essay reflects on a semester-length classroom activity designed to give students an opportunity to practice their citizenship skills. We approach the problem of lack of citizen participation as a communication challenge and present our adaptation of Deliberative Polling to provide students with opportunities to: 1) research alternatives on an issue related to citizenship, 2) hone their research and critical thinking skills, and 3) participate in communication on issues related to citizenship with focused reflection on the communication processes involved. Because the topic is citizenship, students discuss issues related to political participation (e.g. voting) and are asked to reflect on their own practice of citizenship throughout the process. The activity allowed students to experience an alternative to the “either/or debate” perception of politics and gave them tools to participate in politics differently, and in more satisfying ways.

Deliberative Agenda Setting: Piloting Reform of Direct Democracy in California

Can the people deliberate to set the agenda for direct democracy in large scale states? How might such an institution work? The 2011 California Deliberative Poll piloted a solution to this problem helping to produce proposals that went to the ballot and also to the legislature. The paper reports on how this pilot worked and what it suggests about a possible institution to solve the deliberative agenda setting problem. The legislative proposal passed the legislature but the ballot proposition (Prop 31) failed. However, we show that the proposals actually deliberated on by the people might well have passed if not encumbered by additional elements not deliberated on by the public that drew opposition. The paper ends with an outline of how the process of deliberative agenda setting for the initiative might work, vetting proposals once every two years that could get on the ballot for a greatly reduced cost in signature collections. Adding deliberation to the agenda setting process would allow for a thoughtful and informed public will formation to determine the agenda for direct democracy.

Challenging public engagement: participation, deliberation and power in renewable energy policy

Citizen engagement in policymaking represents an increasingly popular mechanism for both civic rejuvenation and environmental policy innovation. Its application in many different policy fora from city budgeting to housing and energy systems across various national contexts provides, in theory, space for the public to feel empowered, connected to new policy spaces and positions them to aid in design and implementation of more effective solutions to complex social and environmental problems. This engagement takes many different forms, including deliberative polling, citizen’s assemblies, online referenda and creation of community-based ownership. However, various forms of engagement are also accompanied by challenges of poor design and limited local capacity that can undermine their effectiveness and, ultimately, public confidence in government actors and processes. This article challenges renewable energy advocates to consider more serious insights from political and institutional theorists about the complexities of participatory designs. It draws on three initiatives in Canada and Denmark to illustrate both the promise and the challenge of public engagement in this significant policy subsector.

The First Shared Online Curriculum Resources for Veterinary Undergraduate Learning and Teaching in Animal Welfare and Ethics in Australia and New Zealand.

Simple SummaryThere is a need for teaching Animal Welfare and Ethics in veterinary schools and we are developing online resources to meet this need. In this paper we describe how we prioritized the development of these resources by polling experts in the field.The need for undergraduate teaching of Animal Welfare and Ethics (AWE) in Australian and New Zealand veterinary courses reflects increasing community concerns and expectations about AWE; global pressures regarding food security and sustainability; the demands of veterinary accreditation; and fears that, unless students encounter AWE as part of their formal education, as veterinarians they will be relatively unaware of the discipline of animal welfare science. To address this need we are developing online resources to ensure Australian and New Zealand veterinary graduates have the knowledge, and the research, communication and critical reasoning skills, to fulfill the AWE role demanded of them by contemporary society. To prioritize development of these resources we assembled leaders in the field of AWE education from the eight veterinary schools in Australia and New Zealand and used modified deliberative polling. This paper describes the role of the poll in developing the first shared online curriculum resource for veterinary undergraduate learning and teaching in AWE in Australia and New Zealand. The learning and teaching strategies that ranked highest in the exercise were: scenario-based learning; a quality of animal life assessment tool; the so-called ‘Human Continuum’ discussion platform; and a negotiated curriculum.

Understanding Participant Representativeness in Deliberative Events: A Case Study Comparing Probability and Non-Probability Recruitment Strategies

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.

Deliberation with Working College Students Influencing Civic Learning, Opinion Formation and Engagement

This article describes the results from the use of deliberation in the classroom where a majority of students are working. The course included college students from Framingham State University. They discussed the issue of the economic impact of a big-box store. This analysis includes a study of the deliberative polling literature; research of the data on civic learning; an examination of the data comprising net changes in the participants' opinions and gross changes in the participants' opinions; and finally a discussion of the implications for engagement. The results illustrate that the process of deliberation affects changes in attitude items at both the individual and aggregate level.