Citizen Learning, Deliberation, and Reasoning in Internet-Mediated Technology Policy Forums

公众参与技术政策决策既有争议，也有可取之处。它是有争议的，因为质疑公民理解和评估这些复杂问题的能力；这是可取的，因为民主参与是公民参与的一种衡量标准，可以改善决策及其结果。确定和发展更有效的公民参与模式将在使公民有效参与方面发挥重要作用。该项目有几个目标：1)开发改进的工具，使公众有效参与技术政策；2)建立公民对监管机构、科学家和公司的信任程度的基本知识；自我效能感;3)为制定有效的以互联网为媒介的国家技术政策参与模式提供信息。由科学修辞学、集体决策、政治学等学科组成的研究小组将以丹麦模式为基础，进行2次混合模式和6次网络协商会议。这些会议将有120名公民参加；每个由15名公民组成的小组将代表当地人口，并将就一个突出的技术问题进行审议，以达成共识建议。这项研究包括测试一个团队开发的民主审议的创新措施。该项目还将测试政治科学理论，通过调查性别、种族、较低的社会经济地位和对监管机构的效率和信任的增加之间的关系，作为参与模式的结果。该项目具有国家级影响，扩大了代表性不足群体的参与，并利用信息技术开发了新的参与方法。该项目还将涉及本科生和研究生的研究；结果将广泛分发，包括向决策者和媒体宣传结果和公民建议。

Public participation in technology policy decision-making is both controversial and desirable. It is controversial because of questions about the capabilities of citizens to understand and evaluate these complex issues; it is desirable because democratic participation is a measure of civic engagement and may improve decisions and their outcomes. Identification and development of more effective modes of citizen participation will play an important part in enabling citizens to participate effectively.This project has several goals: 1) to develop improved vehicles for effective public involvement in technology policy, 2) to create basic knowledge of how citizens' trust in regulators, scientists, and corporations; self-efficacy; and learning are affected by participation in these processes, and 3) to inform development of effective internet-mediated models for national technology policy participation. The research team, composed of faculty in rhetoric of science, group decision-making, and political science, will conduct two mixed-mode and six internet-mediated consensus conferences, based on the Danish model. These conferences will involve 120 citizens; each panel of 15 citizens will be representative of the local population and will deliberate to reach consensus recommendations on a prominent technology issue. The research includes testing an innovative measure of democratic deliberation developed by one of the team. The project will also test political science theory, by investigating relationships between gender, ethnicity, lower socio-economic status and increases in efficacy and trust in regulators, as outcomes of modes of participation. The project has national-level impact, broadens participation of underrepresented groups, and develops new participation approaches using information technology. The project will also involve undergraduates and graduate students in research; results will be distributed broadly, including publicizing the results and citizen recommendations to policy makers and the media.