How opinions would change
if people were more informed

In 1994, Channel 4 proposed a program called The People’s Parliament in which a cross section of UK citizens debated and voted on controversial issues. This media and political experiment was inspired by the work of James Fishkin, professor in Communication at Stanford. For most of his life he worked on deliberative democracy. In particular, he developed an experimental model of polling called the Deliberative Pool.

Combining random sampling with small group discussions, it aims at understanding how better information and discussion can impact public opinion. Citizens, randomly selected to provide a representative sample of the population, are gathered to deliberate on an issue. They are given materials selected consensually by all parties involved in the discussion, and asked to vote on a proposal. In the next step, debates then take place between these people, a variety of experts and political leaders. The cross section of citizens is then asked to vote again. According to Fishkin, “the resulting changes in opinion represent the conclusions the public would reach, if people had the opportunity to become more informed and more engaged by the issues”.

In short, it is an opinion pool based on the deliberative democracy principles. When the People Speak invites us to follow years of research and deliberative democracy projects conducted in the US, China, Britain and others. This book, driven by a belief in different and fairer forms of democracy, is an attempt to reempower people and bring them back to the center of political decision-making. A convincing utopia based not only on theory but also on compelling and fascinating experience.

When the People Speak. Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation, James S. Fishkin, Oxford University Press, £12.99

– T.N.