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Deliberative Minipublics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement

Democracy
Political Participation
Political Psychology
Referendums and Initiatives
Competence
Decision Making
Public Opinion
Policy-Making
S075
Lala Muradova
Dublin City University
Maija Setälä
University of Turku

Building: (Building C) Faculty of Law, Administration & Economics , Floor: 1st floor, Room: Amf A

Thursday 09:00 - 10:40 CEST (05/09/2019)

Abstract

Voter ignorance, motivated reasoning and polarization of public opinion are well-known problems in referendums and other forms of mass participation. More generally, cognitive challenges of democratic citizenship seem to undermine the prospects of democracy as a system where the citizenry actively influences public policy. This is all the more the case for complex political decisions where future consequences of policies are uncertain and contested. These problems have been dealt with in different strands of literature. On the one hand, there is a body of empirical research on elite cues as both a potential source of - and a remedy to - the problem of voter ignorance and misjudgement. On the other hand, there is a theory-driven debate on how various forums of citizen deliberation might facilitate information processing among the public at large. Recent empirical studies have focused on the use of randomly selected, small-scale citizen forums, i.e. deliberative mini-publics, in conjunction with ballot processes. Most notably, there are several studies on the Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR) processes where a Citizens' Jury reviews a ballot proposal and produces a statement that summarizes the key arguments related to the proposal. The statement is sent to voters to help them make an informed and considered decision in the ballot. Furthermore, this kind of procedure may help ensure that the outcome of the referendum enjoys widespread legitimacy even among those who fail to get their preferred outcome. This panel includes papers analyzing the experiences of CIR processes in the US and elsewhere. Papers exploring specific mechanisms contributing to the capacity of deliberative mini-publics to enhance information processing among voters (e.g. so-called facilitative trust) are discussed. The panel also analyses the benefits and drawbacks of deliberative mini-publics in comparison with other possible sources of voter information, such as partisan cues and governmental voting recommendations. Moreover, the panel seeks to explore innovative ways in which deliberative mini-publics and other forums of citizen deliberation could be used in conjunction with forms of mass participation. Finally, the panel discusses theoretical ideas reflecting on the potential of different forms of citizen deliberation to remedy cognitive challenges of democracy.

Title Details
A Citizens’ Jury on Referendum Options: The Case of Korsholm View Paper Details
Perspective Taking and Reflective Political Judgements View Paper Details
Moral Conflict in Electoral Deliberation: Assessing the Efficacy of Voting Aids on an Irish Referendum View Paper Details
Can Mini-Publics Correct Misinformation? The Effects of Source Cues, Populist Attitudes, and Trust in Experts View Paper Details
Connecting Mini- and Macro-Publics: Can the Citizens’ Initiative Review Improve Swiss Direct Democracy? View Paper Details