Can Voters Trust Each Other? An Online Model for Issue Deliberation

• In Event: Can We Create a Deliberative Society? Or Must Democracy Do without One?

Abstract

The evidence from the 2010-2018 Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR) shows the efficacy of a deliberative minipublic serving as a trusted information source for an electorate that has to vote on initiatives and referenda. This paper builds on that model by envisioning a decentralized online process that replicates the function of the CIR without the logistics and expense of convening the minipublic itself. This model draws on experiments in digital deliberation, such as the Living Voters Guide and DecideMadrid, and earlier research on Group Decision Support Systems and non-interactive processes, such as Nominal Group Technique. The result is a scalable online process for generating the same core information found in a CIR statement--key findings about the issue and the best pro and con arguments--without convening a small deliberative body. The model will also address the challenges of doing this without a minipublic, such as ensuring trustworthy and high-quality information and motivating voters to access and consider the information before completing their ballots.

Author

• John Gastil, Pennsylvania State University