Initiative for Europe Handbook 2008

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INITIATIVE FOR EUROPE What exactly is a Deliberative Poll ? The method of Deliberative Polling ® was developed in the United States during the 1990s by Professor James Fishkin of Stanford University in collaboration with Professor Robert Luskin of the University of Texas at Austin, and was tested for the first time in the United Kingdom in 1994. The work was at first hosted by the « Center for Deliberative Polling ® » at the University of Texas University and is currently attached to the « Center for Deliberative Democracy » at Stanford University. The motivation for developing Deliberative Polling ® was to correct the imperfections of conventional polls, since the answers people give to the questions are mostly not thoroughly considered answers and they are not based on well-informed opinions. More generally, the rationale is to overcome what social science calls “rational ignorance”, that is to say the common unwillingness to get information about an issue because of the individual investment in time and energy required “A Deliberative Poll ® is designed to show what the public would think about the issues, if it thought more earnestly and had more information about them,” states Professor Fishkin. The design of a Deliberative Poll ® is as follows. First, a public opinion poll is conducted among a random and representative sample of a given population on key public policy issues. Then, during the deliberative event, the participants discuss the issues and the various policy proposals on the basis of balanced briefing material provided a couple of weeks before the deliberation. Over a weekend, they meet in moderated small groups and in plenary sessions with experts and politicians. The event is covered by the media. After the deliberation, the same poll is conducted again, allowing the change in opinions and in the participants’ knowledge of the issues to be highlighted. Will Tomorrow’s Europe help connect EU citizens with the policy makers? While other deliberative techniques, such as consensus conferences and citizens’ juries, are very useful, they involve only a small number of people. Other participatory democracy techniques and Plan D initiatives use a mixture of debating approaches, but without the same level of commitment to scientific rigour. In the majority of debates, a phenomenon of “group polarisation” occurs in which pre-existing opinions are reinforced. Deliberative Polling escapes this undesirable effect, as citizens benefit from a “leveling up” of information before the debates. They continue to be informed during the course of the debate, and are given access to arguments and contexts for each viewpoint represented. They hear the opinions of experts. They deliberate in small groups and in plenary, always benefiting from impartial moderators. They take part in confrontations between the advocates of various opposing standpoints. Unlike traditional polls, Deliberative Polling does not content itself with a single snapshot record of participants’ opinions. Instead, it repeats polling at selected moments. “The responses of participants reflect an increased interest in politics, an awareness of their ignorance and a need for information,” notes Nonna Mayer, director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). “They also indicate a more critical perception of politicians and an increased determination to be heard,” adds Mayer. Deliberative polls complement direct-democratic tools such as the citizens’ initiative as they provide the infrastructures for people to become informed and involved. The concept of the citizens’ initiative, also 101
INITIATIVE FOR EUROPE incorporated into the Constitutional Treaty as Art. 47, allows one million European citizens to present a petition to change or amend a European law. The right of initiative will contribute to shaping an open European public space around key debates that reflect citizen’s real concerns. The priority, the organisers of Tomorrow’s Europe believe, is to give citizens a voice and to explore the true diversity of their opinions in order to provide EU and national decision-makers with a clear and rich view of options and perspectives, rather than merely a replication of policy positions already explored through Eurobarometer polls or national focus groups. Tomorrow’s Europe believes in the need to produce quality recommendations on complex and unfamiliar issues. That requires Deliberative Polling’s complex and rigorous process of information and deliberation. As such, Deliberative Polls are an effective tool for implementing participatory democracy, as they provide a direct feedback and a potential guide for public decision-making, and encourage and facilitate more active citizen participation in the policy-making process. The result is a picture of considered public opinion. Stephen Boucher is co-director of the Paris-based think-tank Notre Europe, which is coordinating Tomorrow’s Europe. www.notre-europe.eu, www.tomorrowseurope.eu 102
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INITIATIVE FOR EUROPE Preface With
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