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.
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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