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Scaling up deliberation: testing the potential of mini-publics to enhance the deliberative capacity of citizens

Suiter, Jane orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-2747-8069, Muradova, Lala orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-7615-6779, Gastil, John orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-0337-1064 and Farrell, David orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-0528-4335 (2020) Scaling up deliberation: testing the potential of mini-publics to enhance the deliberative capacity of citizens. Swiss Political Science Review, 26 (3). pp. 253-272. ISSN 1662-6370

Abstract
This paper tests the possibility of embedding the benefits of minipublic deliberation within a wider voting public. We test whether a statement such as those derived from a Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) can influence voters who did not participate in the pre-referendum minipublic deliberation. This experiment was implemented in advance of the 2018 Irish referendum on blasphemy, one of a series of social-moral referendums following the recommendations of a deliberative assembly. This is the first application of a CIR-style voting aid in a real world minipublic and referendum outside of the US and also the first application to what is principally a moral question. We found that survey respondents exposed to information about the minipublic and its findings significantly increased their policy knowledge. Further, exposing respondents to minipublic statements in favour and against the policy measure increased their empathy for the other side of the policy debate.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Deliberation; mini-publics; CIR; citizen participation;, Referendum
Subjects:Social Sciences > Communication
Social Sciences > Political science
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Communications
Publisher:Wiley
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12405
Copyright Information:© 2020 Swiss Political Science Association
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dublin City University, Research Foundation ‐ Flanders. Grant Number: G075615N, Pennsylvania State University's Department of Communication Arts & Sciences
ID Code:25577
Deposited On:03 Mar 2021 12:14 by Jane Suiter . Last Modified 14 Aug 2021 03:30
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