Funded through Discovery Project (DP0558573) ($365,000), the Project Team includes:

1. John Dryzek, Chief Investigator

2. Simon Niemeyer, Chief Investigator

3. Selen A. Ercan, Research Assistant

Project Description

This project explores the nature of democratic deliberation with a view to improving theories of democracy and prospects for institutionalising the benefits ascribed to deliberative democracy. It aims to systematically address fundamental questions about what it means to deliberate using empirical investigation of actual deliberative process. The methods employed have been trialled with promising results and accepted as being consistent with normative deliberative theory. These involve both formal hypothesis testing and qualitative exploration of results to reveal insights about the process of deliberation. The findings will be used to re-examine theory and formulate recommendations for the instutionalisation of deliberative democracy in both Australian and international contexts.