ICPP Research Seminar Tackles Deliberative Democracy
Institute of Communication and Public Policy
The Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP) hosted a research seminar last week featuring Simon Niemeyer (University of Canberra) and Francesco Veri (University of Geneva, University of Zurich, and University of Canberra). Their presentation, titled "How Deliberation Happens: Enabling and Activating Deliberative Reasoning," explored the concept of deliberative reason and its practical application.
Niemeyer and Veri argued that effective deliberation can be achieved through "metaconsensus," the mutual recognition of relevant factors in a discussion. This, they say, leads to a "Deliberative Reason Index (DRI)" that measures the quality of deliberation. Their findings challenge traditional assumptions about deliberation, such as the overemphasis on procedures and specific outcomes.
The seminar drew on research published in the article "How Deliberation Happens: Enabling and Activating Deliberative Reasoning" from the American Political Science Review. The speakers' backgrounds in deliberative democracy and empirical research provided a unique perspective on this important topic.
