New Publication by André Bächtiger: How Deliberation Happens (American Political Science Review)

We show, against skeptics, that however latent it may be in everyday life, the ability to reason effectively about politics can readily be activated when conditions are right. We justify a definition of deliberative reason, then develop and apply a Deliberative Reason Index (DRI) to analysis of 19 deliberative forums. DRI increases over the course of deliberation in the vast majority of cases, but the extent of this increase depends upon enabling conditions. The article finds that group building that activates deliberative norms makes the biggest difference, particularly in enabling participants to cope with complexity.