Deliberative Mini-publics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement

Experience from a Finnish Local Referendum

Bibliographic Data

ID6378484
AuthorsMaija Setälä (0000-0002-9341-5584, University of Turku, Turku, Finland), Henrik Serup Christensen (0000-0003-2916-0561, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland), Mikko Leino (0000-0002-8113-7732, University of Turku, Turku, Finland), Kim Strandberg (0000-0001-6357-5643, Åbo Akademi University, Vasa, Finland), Maria Bäck (0000-0003-2008-9391, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland), Maija Jäske (0000-0003-1314-9034, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland)
Year2023
Volume59
Issue1
Pages75-93
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRepresentation (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-4893 • E-ISSN: 1749-4001
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00344893.2020.1826565
OpenAlexW3092577888
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited33

This article examines the use of a Citizens’ Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters’ knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citizens’ Jury on Referendum Options organised in the municipality of Korsholm (Finland) in 2019. Even though the referendum concerned a contested municipal merger, we find that jury's participants were nonetheless satisfied with the deliberative process and found it impartial. A large majority of voters in Korsholm had read the statement by the jury and thought it was a useful and trustworthy source of information. Based on a field experiment, we find that reading the statement increased trust in the jury, factual knowledge, issue efficacy and perspective-taking

Ballot · Context (archaeology · Geography · Government (linguistics · Judgement · Jury · Political science · Public relations · Referendum · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access