Towards the Recognition and Integration of Action Research and Deliberative Democracy

Abstract

Because of the shared underlying value systems of action research (AR) and deliberative democracy (DD), the former can be a powerful means for engaging the academy in the latter. AR and DD are both grounded in principles of inclusion, equity, the co-generation of knowledge, and action. In making the case for the integration of AR and DD, we describe their commonalities and place AR in the context of other forms of engaged scholarship. We review outreach scholarship, community-based research and other forms of participatory research, examining each in terms of their alignment with deliberative democratic principles and their potential for furthering deliberative democracy generally. Engaging the academy in research on and for deliberative democracy requires the full recognition of AR and other forms of engaged scholarship. However, Ernest Boyer's call for the academy to recognize the scholarship of engagement as scholarship worthy of tenure and promotion has been heeded unevenly across and within higher education institutions. Yet, embedding action research firmly in the academy is critical to engaging faculty in research that not only furthers our understanding of deliberative democracy, but engages higher education in the work of pushing democracy forward.

Beyond Engagement Exercises: Exploring the U.S. National Citizens’ Technology Forum from the Bottom-Up

“…Here we call not simply for further research into the "actual" policy impacts of citizen deliberations, but for a brainstorming of ways to organize dialogues on emerging technologies that inspire a cascade of meaningful dialogues within the larger polity. As a long-term goal, deliberative organizers should find ways to "embed" engagement mechanisms throughout community and decision-making institutions (Cunningham & McKinney, 2010;Fagotto & Fung, 2009). In addition to increased political commitment and funding, this change will require significant paradigm shifts in deliberative approaches and goals-from attempting to create "ideal speech" through highly structured dialogues in research settings, to organizing more dynamic and complex (and at times conflictual and emotional) discussions among diverse laypeople, experts, and policymakers within real-world science and technology decisionmaking contexts.…”

Research Methods in Deliberative Democracy

“…(Stringer 2007, 10-11) Action research, in sum, begins with real-life problems, an understanding of which is arrived at through deliberative processes that then lead to new meanings out of which stem social actions (Cunningham and Leighninger 2010, 63). More than a methodology to simply investigate the processes and impacts of deliberation, action research is a method for simultaneously engaging in it, as deliberation is embedded in the action research process itself (Cunningham and McKinney 2010). Thus, action research is a methodology for deliberative democracy, though the data generated through the process can also be useful for gaining insight into the process itself.…”