Does talking matter? A quasi-experiment assessing the impact of deliberation and information on opinion change
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512118824459 |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118824459
International Political Science Review
2020, Vol. 41(3) 321 –334
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512118824459
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Does talking matter?
A quasi-experiment assessing
the impact of deliberation and
information on opinion change
Eoin O’Malley
Dublin City University, Ireland
David M Farrell
University College, Dublin, Ireland
Jane Suiter
Dublin City University, Ireland
Abstract
Deliberative democracy is for many the most significant development in democratic theory in the last
50 years and it has been used in some places to solve real-world policy problems. However, measuring
the impact of deliberative methods is not clearly achievable because several independent variables are
manipulated simultaneously. One of the main goals of deliberation is opinion change and thus it is important
to understand why opinions change. This paper utilises comparison groups in order to isolate the impact of
deliberation from information in the deliberative process. We outline the results of a quasi-experiment in
which deliberation took place in a citizens’ assembly (CA) in Ireland. As part of this we measured the impact
using pre- and post-test controls, including a group given the information the CA participants received, but
without the deliberation. The results of the analysis provide evidence of a separate deliberation effect.
Keywords
Deliberations, participatory democracy, information processing, citizens’ assemblies, Ireland
Introduction: Deliberation and opinion change
When citizens make decisions, it is often thought to be on the basis of information. For this reason
governments provide information, and in certain types of elections – for instance, referendums
Corresponding author:
Eoin O’Malley, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Email: eoin.omalley@dcu.ie
824459IPS0010.1177/0192512118824459International Political Science ReviewO’Malley et al.
research-article2019
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