Deliberation, information, and trust: the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly as agenda setter

Cutler, Fred; Johnston, Richard; Carty, R. Kenneth; Blais, André; Fournier, Patrick; Warren, Mark E.; Pearse, Hilary

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511491177.010

Cited by 42 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…One important difference between the British Columbia and Ontario referendums was that, in the first referendum in British Columbia, it was the recommendation of the Assembly that helped to legitimise STV for many voters. 61 In Ontario, more or less the opposite occurred. The Assembly was an unknown quantity for most voters, and its negative portrayal in the media made it more of a liability than an asset in generating public support for electoral reform.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Failure of Electoral Reform Proposals in Canada

LeDuc

2009

Political Science

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The case for electoral reform in Canada is compelling, and the issue has been actively debated for many years both federally and provincially. A strong and active lobby organisation (Fair Vote Canada) continues to advance the cause, yet no reform proposal has ever been adopted. At the federal level, a serious proposal by the Law Commission was put forward in 2004, but its report was ignored and the commission was subsequently disbanded by the federal government. Five of the ten provinces have also seriously considered electoral reform. However, reform proposals failed to move forward in New Brunswick and Quebec, largely because of the ambivalence of governing parties. Referendums on reform proposals have taken place in British Columbia (2005, 2009), Prince Edward Island (2005, and Ontario (2007). All were defeated.The Canadian experience demonstrates how difficult electoral reform is to accomplish, in spite of the many arguments in its favour. Governments are typically reluctant, and numerous veto points exist. Powerful interests can be mobilised against it, particularly in a referendum campaign. This article considers the lessons of the Canadian experience, with particular emphasis on the Ontario Citizens' Assembly and referendum. The analysis demonstrates the difficulty of transforming the electoral reform issue from a theoretical discussion among elites into a political movement capable of attracting voters' support. The Canadian experience highlights the perceived threat that electoral reform poses to entrenched political interests, and the powerful tools that can be deployed against it when the issue is put to the people in a direct vote.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Failure of Electoral Reform Proposals in Canada

LeDuc

2009

Political Science

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“…This form of inclusion naturally supports deliberative quality and thus also addresses deliberative deficits. There is now ample evidence that deliberative mini-publics do, in fact, achieve high-quality deliberation Warren & Gastil 2015;Cutler et al 2008;Warren & Pearse 2008;Beauvais & Bächtiger 2016;Knobloch & Gastil 2015;Smith 2009;Beauvais 2018). While we will not reiterate this evidence, we will underscore those design features incorporated into the GWCA that likely supported high-quality learning and deliberation.…”

Section: Using Deliberative Mini-publics To Address Democratic Deficitsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…While there are variants within the deliberative systems approach, the overarching idea is that deliberation takes place across a diverse range of interconnected forums and actors, and different forums and actors can be judged by how well they contribute to deliberative capacities of political systems (Curato & Böker 2016;Goodin 2005;Mansbridge et al 2012;Niemeyer 2014;Parkinson 2012). Although deliberative mini-publics might, in principle, foster or undermine deliberation in the broader public sphere depending on their quality and their encompassing systems (Curato & Böker 2016), evidence suggests that they tend to enhance deliberative quality and make important contributions to deliberative systems Warren & Gastil 2015;Blais et al 2008;Cutler et al 2008;Warren & Pearse 2008;Beauvais & Bächtiger 2016;Knobloch & Gastil 2015;Smith 2009).…”

Section: Problem-based Democratic Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These features not only increase the inclusiveness of the process, but also underwrite its deliberativeness. The literature suggests that the learning and listening phase of citizens' assembly processes helps promote more reasoned and informed discourse than often occurs in the unstructured mass public just because members focus their time and attention on the issues at hand (Esterling et al 2011;Cutler et al 2008;Fournier et al 2011).…”

Section: Using Deliberative Mini-publics To Address Democratic Deficitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What can deliberative mini‐publics contribute to democratic systems?

Beauvais

Warren

2018

European J Political Res

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Can deliberative mini‐publics contribute to deepening the democratic dimensions of electoral democracies? The question is framed in this article using a problem‐based approach to democratic theory–to count as democratic, political systems must accomplish three basic functions related to inclusion, communication and deliberation, and decision making. This approach is elaborated with an analysis of a real‐world case: a deliberative mini‐public with a citizens’ assembly design, focused on urban planning convened in Vancouver, Canada. This example was chosen because the context was one in which the city's legacy institutions of representative democracy had significant democratic deficits in all three areas, and the mini‐public was a direct response to these deficits. It was found that Vancouver's deliberative mini‐public helped policy makers, activists and affected residents move a stalemated planning process forward, and did do so in ways that improved the democratic performance of the political system. Depending on when and how they are sequenced into democratic processes, deliberative mini‐publics can supplement existing legacy institutions and practices to deepen their democratic performance.

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“…Conversely, some studies show that deliberative bodies can set deliberative cues for citizens to follow. 96 This is an instance of the ''expressive'' function of institutions and law, which Sunstein, Anderson and Pildes, and Ghosh, among others, have identified. 97 Expressivism is essentially the guidance function writ large.…”

Section: How Distinct Are Institutional and Public Deliberation?mentioning

confidence: 95%

The Law of Deliberative Democracy: Seeding the Field

Levy¹

2013

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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Deliberation, information, and trust: the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly as agenda setter

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

The Failure of Electoral Reform Proposals in Canada

The Failure of Electoral Reform Proposals in Canada

What can deliberative mini‐publics contribute to democratic systems?

The Law of Deliberative Democracy: Seeding the Field

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