Deliberative engagement

James Fishkin developed deliberative research. His main argument is that democracy is broken because mass participation is flawed.

He suggested an alternative model, deliberative democracy, to revive faith in democracy and to encourage better decision-making.

Small groups, comprising members of the public, come together to deliberate and then work together to design policies and make recommendations.

Deliberative research brings specialists (often those responsible for designing policies) into the debate and encourages their interaction with the public – this helps them hear firsthand about issues affecting them.

It allows people to grapple with complex issues, which is more challenging in other circumstances.

It can also reduce polarisation – it’s often used to consider controversial or otherwise complex topics, occasions where there’s lots of disagreement and doing something like a poll or a focus group could be polarising - amplifying division rather than encouraging resolution.

This guidance covers:

• What deliberative engagement involves
• The different stages of deliberative engagement
• Tips on facilitating deliberative event
• Practical considerations
• Writing up deliberative engagement into a report