Welcome to the Deliberative Democracy Digest

A roundup of recent developments in the theory and practice of deliberative democracy.

Democracy without Shortcuts

Are deliberative minipublics acceptable democratic shortcuts in building a participatory deliberative democracy?

The Challenge of Global Deliberative Democracy

Global citizens’ assemblies can democratise global governance. But how these assemblies are convened needs to be democratised too. 

A Deliberative Democrat in the Jury Room

Do deliberative democrats make good jurors? Sonia Bussu reflects on her experience as a foreperson in a London jury.

Japan Catches the Deliberative Wave

Are we witnessing the rise of a participatory society in Japan? Ayano Takeuchi sends a dispatch from Tokyo.

Articles

Inclusive topic selection: reflections on Mostar’s first citizens’ assembly

Inclusive topic selection: reflections on Mostar’s first citizens’ assembly

The topic for deliberation in a citizens’ assembly is often predetermined. But in Mostar, this process was opened up to the city’s residents. In this conversation, two of the organisers of Mostar’s first assembly, Damir Kapidžić and Yves Dejaeghere, reflect on the implications and practicalities of opening up topic selection.

read more
Five lessons from the College of Guarantors of the French Citizens’ Convention on the End of Life

Five lessons from the College of Guarantors of the French Citizens’ Convention on the End of Life

The Guarantors of the French Citizens’ Convention on the End of Life had a unique level of access to the deliberation, its design and governance. In this article the guarantors share their insights on the micro deliberative details of the Convention and their wider implications, along with recommendations for future processes.

read more
Matching Facilitation Methods to Deliberative Purposes

Matching Facilitation Methods to Deliberative Purposes

Imagine three groups of people deliberating the same question. All three groups were recruited the same way, they are deliberating in similar rooms, and they have the same materials available. Does it actually matter how the facilitation of these deliberative processes is carried out? Dirk von Schneidemesser, Dorota Stasiak and Daniel Oppold explain why it matters, and how different facilitation styles affect deliberation.

read more
Representation Reset

Representation Reset

Felipe Rey reflects on his inspiration and motivations for writing his new book, The Representative System, and its implications for the field of democratic innovations.

read more
How representative is it really? A correspondence on sortition

How representative is it really? A correspondence on sortition

Are proponents of sortition overclaiming? What claims to representativeness can we really make about deliberative mini-publics? This correspondence unpicks some of the key claims and proposes ways forward for representation claims in deliberative practice.

read more
Promoting deliberative journalism: A dispatch from Colorado

Promoting deliberative journalism: A dispatch from Colorado

How can journalism foster a deliberative mindset? For Martin Carcasson, journalists can reinvigorate their role and expand their impact on their community by situating themselves more in terms of being facilitators of public deliberation.

read more
Debating Sortition

Debating Sortition

What are the appropriate uses of sortition in contemporary democracies? To what extent can these practices advance democratic transformation? Here are four big ideas.

read more
Getting the Publishing House in Order: Democratising Academic Publishing

Getting the Publishing House in Order: Democratising Academic Publishing

In the second of this two-part series, six early career academics offer an agenda for advancing academic practices, particularly in the field of publishing, grounded on the normative commitments of deliberative democracy.

read more
Deliberative democracy in a neoliberal academy

Deliberative democracy in a neoliberal academy

In the first of a two-part series, six early career academics examine the constraints posed by the neoliberal academy in advancing the practice of deliberative democracy.

read more

Supporters

The Journal of Deliberative Democracy and Deliberative Democracy Digest are supported by:

Contact

General queries

Please get in touch with our editor Lucy Parry.

Mailing Address

Journal of Deliberative Democracy
Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance
Ann Harding Conference Centre
University Drive South
University of Canberra, ACT 2617

Twitter

@delibdemjournal