Deliberation, Democracy, and Civic Forums

Innovative forums that integrate citizen deliberation into policy making are revitalizing democracy in many places around the world. Yet controversy abounds over whether these forums ought to be seen as authentic sources of public opinion and how they should fit with existing political institutions. How can civic forums include less powerful citizens and ensure that their perspectives are heard on equal terms with more privileged citizens, officials, and policy experts? How can these fragile institutions communicate citizens' policy preferences effectively and legitimately to the rest of the political system? Deliberation, Democracy, and Civic Forums proposes creative solutions for improving equality and publicity, which are grounded in new theories about democratic deliberation, a careful review of research and practice in the field, and several original studies. This book speaks to scholars, practitioners, and sponsors of civic engagement, public management and consultation, and deliberative and participatory democracy.

Christopher F. Karpowitz is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, Utah. He is a co-author of The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation, and Institutions (2014) and of Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do about It (2005). He has published in a variety of journals, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, the British Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Political Communication, Politics and Society, PS: Political Science and Politics, and the Journal of Public Deliberation. Prior to joining Brigham Young University, he was a postdoctoral fellow in democracy and human values at Princeton University's Center for Human Values.

Chad Raphael is a Professor of Communication at Santa Clara University, California. He is the author of Investigated Reporting: Muckrakers, Regulators, and the Struggle over Television Documentary (2005), which won the Frank Luther Mott–Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award for the best book on journalism and mass communication, the Donald McGannon Award for social and ethical relevance in communications policy research, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication History Division Award for best book. He has published in many journals, including Political Communication, Politics and Society, Communication Law and Policy, Journalism Studies, the Journal of Educational Computing Research, the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and Games and Culture, and in many edited volumes. He consults for non-profit organizations on their communication strategies and is former chair of the board at the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Before entering academia, he was a community organizer on affordable housing and environmental issues.