Participatory and deliberative practices, and their theoretical and methodological implications

We very much welcome paper proposals to our panel, at the ECPR General Conference 2018, titled: “Participatory and deliberative practices, and their theoretical and methodological implications”. The detailed description of the panel can be found below. Please send your paper proposal (including an abstract of maximum 500 words) to either one of us no later than February 7th. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.  

Marina Lindell (panel chair) Åbo Akademi University, Finland. marina.lindell@abo.fi

Kim Strandberg (co-chair), Åbo Akademi University, Finland. kim.strandberg@abo.fi

Panel details:

There are a growing number of studies examining participatory and deliberative practices on all levels of governance; on the local-, the regional-, and the national-level. These contain potentially important knowledge pertaining to both theory and methods. This panel welcomes papers concerning participatory or deliberative practices in conjunction to political processes in the real world. The panel is especially focused on the theoretical or methodological implications from such practices.

Do the findings of real-world practices generally support the theoretical notions guiding them, or do they give rise to new theoretical perspectives? Which methodological alterations need to be done when moving from the academic ‘lab’ to real-world settings? What are the central findings concerning process quality in participatory and deliberative practices? How does the connection to actual political processes affect the individual-level outcomes — e.g. opinions, efficacy, political trust, generalized trust — of participation in these practices? How are, or how could, participatory and deliberative practices be used to influence policies and, ultimately, to enhance legitimacy of democratic decision-making?