Participation Bias, Durable Opinion Shifts and Sabotage through Withdrawal in Citizens' Juries

Bibliographic Data

ID6345356
AuthorsDamien French (Trinity College Dublin), Michael Laver (0000-0001-7515-9831, New York University)
Year2009
Volume57
Issue2
Pages422-450
Publication date2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9248.2009.00785.x
OpenAlexW2137336342
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited74

We analyse a citizens' jury experiment held in Dublin on the ‘hot-button’ issue of waste incineration. The jury was a random sample drawn from the 2002 Irish Election Study (IES), and we compare jurors to non-jurors in the 2002 IES, and in 2003 and 2004 panel studies. Large opinion shifts were observed in a representative jury; these shifts remained observable nine months later. However, as a direct consequence of our choice of a contested issue, the jurors' verdict was framed by the unwillingness of key stakeholders to participate. Stakeholders who expect to be on the ‘losing’ side, including public representatives and officials, may obstruct and delegitimise citizens' juries by withholding participation. This informal gatekeeping power undermines the potential of citizens' juries to empower citizens

Gatekeeping · Irish · Jury · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public opinion · Sociology · Verdict · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Social Media and Politics

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