Imperfect Conditions: Exploring the Possibilities of Mass Deliberation

• In Event: Divided Times: Deliberative Democracy in Post Conflict & Polarised Societies

Abstract

The rise in democratic innovations – particularly mini-publics – has thus far aligned to foundational theory. We argue that in doing so, and prioritising ‘good conditions’ we risk not realising the full potential that deliberative democracy offers. This paper encourages a more ‘capacious view’ (following Simone Chambers) by exploring technologically enabled mass deliberation. This gives new horizons for practice as well as challenging existing assumptions. However, to truly experiment with what these approaches can offer, it is necessary to contend with known limitations and impose 'imperfect conditions'. This paper explores our learnings from using the Stanford Online Deliberation Platform, designed to trial 'compact deliberation' - using much shorter timeframes and an AI moderated platform. We found that even in reduced time, participants engaged in high quality deliberation and how, in the absence of a facilitator and thus with more autonomy, participants ‘self-regulated’ within deliberative ideals. The results show that this technology may allow for less resource intensive and more accessible public deliberations. This has implications for our ability to scale up the number who can participate, as well as reducing the time it takes to gather evidence, thus creating clearer pathways to democratic inclusion and impact.

Authors

• Ceri Davies, National Centre for Social Research (UK)

• Suzanne Hall, King's College London

• Alice Siu, Stanford University