A mixed methods investigation of the influence of deliberate mini-publics on political attitudes

研究目的拟议的项目将调查审议迷你公众（dmp）——如公民陪审团和公民大会——如何影响公民对民主的态度。人们越来越感到与政治脱节，削弱了民主。通过让人们重新参与决策，dmp被视为解决这些问题的一个有希望的创新，但需要对其有效性进行更多的研究。该研究将通过混合方法解决这一差距，将调查（包括联合）实验与焦点小组相结合。根据文献，我希望了解dmp对政治态度产生积极影响。调查实验是检验接收信息的因果关系的理想方法，而焦点小组则可以调查政治态度的更复杂方面。总之，它们将提供对这些内容及其背后的潜在过程的更全面的理解。潜在意义虽然研究表明，参加国会议员可以增加政治知识，对民主的信心，对政府的信任，但这些影响仅限于少数参与者。进一步研究它们如何影响一般公民的态度，将增进对公众与民主之间关系的理解，促进更好的DMP设计，并为当代关于民主改革的核心辩论提供信息。

Research aimThe proposed project will investigate how deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) - such as citizens' juries and assemblies - influence citizens' attitudes toward democracy. People increasingly feel disconnected from politics, weakening democracy. By reintegrating people in decision-making, DMPs are seen as a promising innovation to tackle these issues, but more research on their effectiveness is needed.MethodologyThe study will address this gap through a mixed-methods approach, combining survey (including conjoint) experiments with focus groups. Drawing from the literature, I expect being informed about DMPs to positively influence political attitudes. Survey experiments are ideal for examining the causal effect of receiving information whilst focus groups allow investigation of the more complex aspects of political attitudes. Together, they will provide a more well-rounded understanding of these and the underlying processes behind them.Potential significanceWhilst research has shown that participating in DMPs can increase political knowledge, faith in democracy, and trust in government these effects are restricted to small numbers of participants. Further study of how they influence the attitudes of citizens' in general will enhance understanding of the relationship between the public and democracy, facilitate better DMP design and inform core contemporary debates about democratic reform.