Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? How could a prime minister’s office build trust in order to make the most contentious national decisions, and does the recent experience in Ireland help to answer this? Why answer this question? There is increasing world-wide distrust in politicians and elections. Democracy was borne...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation David Schecter – Associate R&D Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? The note “Hearing from Experts” makes the point that mini-publics need the help of experts in order to become adequately informed. To be successful in their purpose, these experts must not only be knowledgeable, but also representative...Continue reading
Dr Oliver Escobar – Lecturer in Public Policy, The University of Edinburgh Co-director of What Works Scotland Dr Stephen Elstub – Lecturer in British Politics, Newcastle University Introduction This paper introduces a range of democratic innovations known as ‘mini-publics’ and outlines key features, how they work, and how they may improve opportunities for citizens to contribute to...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? How can participants in mini-publics critically and effectively, hear and learn from expert witnesses in a way that ensures they understand the challenges being considered? NB: This R&D Note is focused on human experts in the decision-making space and not on published or online...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is deliberation and how does it differ from usual political discussion? Deliberation foregrounds a very important difference in the way political discussions can occur. This note describes that difference while highlighting its importance. Here, we are speaking about public deliberation, not the internal deliberation that we each...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? How can we enhance the ability of randomly-selected citizens in mini-publics (such as citizens’ juries) to understand and evaluate expert evidence? What are the usual answers? It is sometimes assumed that we have an innate capacity to think critically. Some people are born...Continue reading