Overview

Growing numbers of scholars, practitioners, politicians, and citizens recognize the value of deliberative civic engagement processes that enable citizens and governments to come together in public spaces and engage in constructive dialogue, informed discussion, and decisive deliberation. This book seeks to fill a gap in empirical studies in deliberative democracy by studying the assembly of the Australian Citizens' Parliament (ACP), which took place in Canberra on February 6-8, 2009. The ACP addressed the question ""How can the Australian political system be strengthened to serve us better?"" The ACP's Canberra assembly is the first large-scale, face-to-face deliberative project to be completely audio-recorded and transcribed, enabling an unprecedented level of qualitative and quantitative assessment of participants' actual spoken discourse. Each chapter reports on different research questions for different purposes to benefit different audiences. Combined, they exhibit how diverse modes of research focused on a single event can enhance both theoretical and practical knowledge about deliberative democracy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lyn Carson (Professorial Fellow, University of Western Sydney) ,  John Gastil ,  Janette Hartz-Karp ,  Ron Lubensky
Publisher:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Imprint:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Volume:   8
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9780271060125

ISBN 10:   0271060123
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   26 August 2013
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Contents List of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Lyn Carson, John Gastil, Janette Hartz-Karp, and Ron Lubensky Part I: Deliberative Design and Innovation 1 Origins of the First Citizens' Parliament Lyn Carson and Luca Belgiorno-Nettis 2 Putting Citizens in Charge: Comparing the Australian Citizens' Parliament and the Australia 2020 Summit Janette Hartz-Karp and Lyn Carson 3 Choose Me: The Challenges of National Random Selection Ron Lubensky and Lyn Carson 4 Grafting an Online Parliament onto a Face-to-Face Process Brian Sullivan and Janette Hartz-Karp Part II: Exploring Deliberation 5 Listening Carefully to the Citizens' Parliament: A Narrative Account Ron Lubensky 6 Deliberative Design and Storytelling in the Australian Citizens' Parliament Laura W. Black and Ron Lubensky 7 What Counts as Deliberation? Comparing Participant and Observer Ratings John Gastil 8 Hearing All Sides? Soliciting and Managing Different Viewpoints in Deliberation Anna Wiederhold and John Gastil 9 Sit Down and Speak Up: Stability and Change in Group Participation Joseph A. Bonito, Renee A. Meyers, John Gastil, and Jennifer Ervin Part III: The Flow of Beliefs and Ideas 10 Changing Orientations Toward Australian Democracy Simon Niemeyer, Luisa Batalha, and John S. Dryzek 11 Staying Focused: Tracing the Flow of Ideas from the Online Parliament to Canberra John Gastil and John Wilkerson 12 Evidence of Peer Influence in the Citizens' Parliament Luc Tucker and John Gastil Part IV: Facilitation and Organizer Effects 13 The Unsung Heroes of a Deliberative Process: Reflections on the Role of Facilitators at the Citizens' Parliament Max Hardy and Kath Fisher, with Janette Hartz-Karp 14 Are They Doing What They Are Supposed to Do? Assessing the Facilitating Process of the Australian Citizens' Parliament Li Li, Fletcher Ziwoya, Laura W. Black, and Janette Hartz-Karp 15 Supporting the Citizen Parliamentarians: Mobilizing Perspectives and Informing Discussion Ian Marsh and Lyn Carson 16 Investigation of (and Introspection on) Organizer Bias Lyn Carson Part V: Impacts and Reflections 17 Participant Accounts of Political Transformation Katie Knobloch and John Gastil 18 Becoming Australian: Forging a National Identity Janette Hartz-Karp, Patrick Anderson, John Gastil, and Andrea Felicetti 19 Mediated Meta-deliberation: Making Sense of the Australian Citizens' Parliament Eike Mark Rinke, Katie Knobloch, John Gastil, and Lyn Carson 20 How Not to Introduce Deliberative Democracy: The 2010 Citizens' Assembly on Climate Change Proposal Lyn Carson Conclusion: Theoretical and Practical Implications of the Citizens' Parliament Experience Janette Hartz-Karp, Lyn Carson, John Gastil, and Ron Lubensky Index

Reviews

From conception to conclusion, this book narrates and analyzes an ambitious experiment in deliberative democracy: the Australian Citizens' Parliament. Integrating social science analyses of many kinds of data with reflections by philosophers and civic reform-minded public participation practitioners, the volume offers a rich sense of what occurred in the different phases of the ACP process and provides a nuanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this large-scale deliberative democracy experiment. This wonderful case study is a must-read for everyone interested in deliberative democracy. --Karen Tracy, University of Colorado, and author of Challenges of Ordinary Democracy

From conception to conclusion, this book narrates and analyzes an ambitious experiment in deliberative democracy: the Australian Citizens' Parliament. Integrating social science analyses of many kinds of data with reflections by philosophers and civic reform-minded public participation practitioners, the volume offers a rich sense of what occurred in the different phases of the ACP process and provides a nuanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this large-scale deliberative democracy experiment. This wonderful case study is a must-read for everyone interested in deliberative democracy. -Karen Tracy, University of Colorado, and author of Challenges of Ordinary Democracy This study shows that deliberative capacity, personal efficacy, and common political ground can be developed through the careful design of deliberative institutions among ordinary citizens; even so, meaningful political influence over a broader social scale remains as elusive as ever. The editors present valuable and hard-won lessons for citizens, leaders, and academics who hope to realize the practical political and moral benefits of a more truly deliberative and democratic public life. The Australian Citizens' Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy is full of practical wisdom for anyone who sets out to create a democratic deliberative space for ordinary citizens. -Mark E. Button, University of Utah As innovators in democratic process, we know how much we depend on learning from practical trials and real-world experiences. This work captures the experience in detail and provides an important reference point for anyone hoping to bring deliberation and the citizen's voice back into how we do government. -Iain Walker, executive director, The newDemocracy Foundation

This study shows that deliberative capacity, personal efficacy, and common political ground can be developed through the careful design of deliberative institutions among ordinary citizens; even so, meaningful political influence over a broader social scale remains as elusive as ever. The editors present valuable and hard-won lessons for citizens, leaders, and academics who hope to realize the practical political and moral benefits of a more truly deliberative and democratic public life. The Australian Citizens Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy is full of practical wisdom for anyone who sets out to create a democratic deliberative space for ordinary citizens. Mark E. Button, University of Utah

Author Information

Lyn Carson is Professor in the Business Programs Unit at the University of Sydney Business School and a co-initiator of the Australian Citizens’ Parliament. John Gastil is Professor and Head of Communication Arts and Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University. Janette Hartz-Karp is Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute. Ron Lubensky is a doctoral candidate at the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney.

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