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Articles by John Gastil
The Evidentiary Basis for Political Listening: A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Feeling Heard
ABSTRACT For this special issue on democratic listening, we review the quantitative findings of interpersonal listening research. Though such studies were not conducted in a political context, we show how they provide a broader foundation for understanding listening. Doing so requires a wide-angle lens, generalizing across methodological variations and broad outcome categories to discern the broader impacts of perceived listening.
Deliberative panels as a source of public knowledge: A large-sample test of the Citizens’ Initiative Review
PLOS ONE, Jul 2023 Evolving US media and political systems, coupled with escalating misinformation campaigns, have left the public divided over objective facts featured in policy debates. The public also has lost much of its confidence in the institutions designed to adjudicate those epistemic debates. To counter this threat, civic entrepreneurs have devised institutional reforms to revitalize democratic policymaking.
Ned Crosby, 1936-2022
Ned Crosby passed away May 29, 2022 in the company of family. He had managed multiple myeloma for six years before his condition worsened suddenly. He is best known for his invention of the Citizens’ Jury, one of the most widely recognized and utilized forms of public deliberation in the world. He was also the principal architect and advocate of what became the , an institutionalized variant of the Citizens’ Jury.
Verso
Legislature by Lot Transformative Designs for Deliberative Governance by John Gastil and Erik Olin Wright -1 0 1 Paperback Paperback with free ebook $34.95$24.4630% off 448 pages / April 2019 / 9781788736084 Hardback Hardback with free ebook $110.00$88.0020% off 400 pages / June 2019 / 9781788736121 Democracy means rule by the people, but in practice even the most robust democracies delegate most rule making to a political class The gap between the public and its representatives might seem...
Emanating Effects: The Impact of the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review on Voters’ Political Efficacy
Baiocchi, G, Heller, P, Silva, M (2011) Bootstrapping Democracy: Transforming Local Governance and Civil Society in Brazil. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Google Scholar Bohman, J (2012) Representation in the Deliberative System. In: Parkinson, J, Mansbridge, JJ (eds) Deliberative Systems: Deliberative Democracy at the Large Scale. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp.72–94. Google Scholar Boulianne, S (2017) Mini-publics and Public Opinion: Two Survey-Based Experiments.
Tracing the Boundaries of Motivated Reasoning: How Deliberative Minipublics Can Improve Voter Knowledge
Original Article Tracing the Boundaries of Motivated Reasoning: How Deliberative Minipublics Can Improve Voter Knowledge PDF PDF Share Abstract A large body of work shows that reasoning motivated by partisan cues and prior attitudes leads to unreflective decisions and disparities in empirical beliefs across groups. Surprisingly little research, however, has tested the limits of motivated reasoning.
Legislature by Lot
40% off 40% off 40% off Democracy means rule by the people, but in practice even the most robust democracies delegate most rule making to a political class. The gap between the public and its public officials might seem unbridgeable in the modern world, but Legislature by Lot presents a close examination of an inspiring solution: a legislature chosen through “sortition”—the random selection of lay citizens. It’s a concept that has come to the attention of democratic reformers across the globe.
Political reforms could mean better elections and better candidates
Polarization divides people and hurts political parties. As a party’s size and base shrink, so does the diversity of its membership. Recent Gallup figures show that 43 percent of U.S. voters now identify as independent. Meanwhile, Pew surveys show that ideological entrenchment within each party is alienating moderate voters. In effect, the two parties are burning each other’s tents to the ground.
The Republicans’ big gerrymander could backfire in a major way
Some Republican leaders have expressed anxiety about a failed Trump campaign hurting GOP candidates all the way down the ballot. Media reports have focused on Trump’s negative impact on Republican Senate candidates, but the GOP majority in the House also merits attention. A few incumbent House Republicans have spoken out against Trump, sided with the Libertarian presidential candidate, or even endorsed Clinton. Time may be running out for others to do the same.
How voters can avoid waking up with a democratic hangover
How voters can avoid waking up with a democratic hangover The #Regrexit hashtag encapsulates Britain’s morning-after regrets since a referendum in which nearly 52 percent of voters opted to leave the European Union. A Daily Mail poll estimates that more than a million voters — 7 percent of the electorate — wish they could change their vote. Had Britain refrained from holding a referendum, it would not have experienced #Regrexit.
Selection by lot has advantages over elections
Legislatures, and the elections that populate them, have so many flaws that we might be better off picking our representatives at random.
Would picking our reps at random improve governance? Guest commentary
Legislatures, and the elections that populate them, have so many flaws that we might be better off picking our representatives at random.
We select juries at random. Why not Congress?
Legislatures, and the elections that populate them, have so many flaws that we might be better off picking our representatives at random.
These civic experiments are getting citizens more involved in governing themselves
Against the background of this year’s volatile presidential election, it has become commonplace to despair about the health of American democracy. A recent Pew survey found that trust in government remains at historic lows. Only 19 percent of Americans say they can trust the government always or most of the time, and 60 percent believe government needs “major reform.” That same survey, though, shows that the public can better trust itself.
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