The sociodemographics of political public deliberation: Measuring deliberative quality in different user groups
-
Ulrike Klinger
and
Uta Russmann
Abstract
Governments and local administrations increasingly use the internet to improve citizens’ participation in deliberation processes. However, research studies have pointed out that deliberation outcomes vary due to the participants’ sociodemographic differences. In this paper, we address this debate by quantitatively measuring different sociodemographic participant groups’ deliberation quality. By building an index of the quality of understanding (IQU), we analyze the quality of 1,991 postings on local political issues that participants contributed during the 2011 Zurich City debate. We defined five indicators for deliberation quality: statement of reasons, proposals for solutions, respect, doubts, and reciprocity. The analysis confirms that the sociodemographic composition of the participants is of great importance for self-selected participation and deliberation quantity, but not for the deliberation quality.
©2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin Boston
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- Book Reviews
- Book Review
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- The molding of mediatization: The stratified indispensability of media in close relationships
- “Help me. I am so alone.” Online emotional self-disclosure in shared coping-processes of children and adolescents on social networking platforms.
- How to take advantage of tablet computers: Effects of news structure on recall and comprehension
- Has TV advertising lost its effectiveness to other touch points?
- Research in brief
- The sociodemographics of political public deliberation: Measuring deliberative quality in different user groups
- Exploring the role of identification and moral disengagement in the enjoyment of an antihero television series
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
