Equality of Participation in Online Versus Face to Face Deliberation: A Transcript and Experience Survey Analysis

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Paper Session: Communication and Technology Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Some are optimistic that online deliberation might provide a more egalitarian environment for deliberation that obviates some of the pitfalls of face to face deliberation. Others, however, have expressed skepticism that online deliberation can achieve these goals, and still others have viewed online methods as amplifying inequalities in participation. Additionally, there are a number of other variables that can affect participation equality in different deliberative modes, such as education, age, group size and group composition. This paper presents a quantitative analysis and comparison of the volume of face to face and online contributions by participants in a large-scale, data-rich random assignment national deliberation experiment that allows for within-group and cross-modal comparisons. We find no negative online effects on participation equality related to gender, age, or educational level. The data suggest a possible dampening effect of online environments on black participants, as well as amplification for whites. Other findings are discussed.

Authors

• Eric Showers, Stanford U

• Nathan Tindall, Stanford U

• Todd Richard Davies, Stanford U