Table of Contents

Introduction: democratic renewal and deliberative democracy Mark E. Warren and Hilary Pearse; 1. Who should govern who governs? The role of citizens in reforming the electoral system Dennis F. Thompson; 2. Citizen representatives Mark E. Warren; 3. Institutional design and citizen deliberation Hilary Pearse; 4. Agenda setting in deliberative forums: expert influence and citizen autonomy in the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly Amy Lang; 5. Descriptive representation in the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly Michael Rabinder James; 6. Do citizens' assemblies make reasoned choices? André Blais, R. Kenneth Carty and Patrick Fournier; 7. Communicative rationality in the Citizens' Assembly and referendum process R. S. Ratner; 8. Deliberation, information and trust: the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly as agenda setter Fred Cutler, Richard Johnston, R. Kenneth Carty, André Blais and Patrick Fournier; Conclusion: the citizens' assembly model John Ferejohn.

Promotional Information

The first authoritative assessment of a unique application of deliberative democracy.

About the Author

Mark E. Warren holds the Harold and Dorrie Merilees Chair for the Study of Democracy and is Academic Director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at the University of British Columbia. Hilary Pearse is a Ph.D. candidate and Commonwealth Scholar in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia.

Reviews

'The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly is a pivotal event in the history of deliberative democracy. The distinguished contributors to this book do the Assembly full justice with close analysis, insightful commentary and critical scrutiny, drawing lessons applicable to democratic reformers everywhere.' John S. Dryzek, Australian National University 'British Columbia's Citizens Assembly was a unique and important experiment in citizen political participation and democratic reform. Designing Deliberative Democracy provides a very rich account of the process from the perspective of the participants, the general public and democratic theory. This book presents convincing evidence of the quality of the CA's deliberations and draws out the important implications for our theories of deliberative democracy.' Russell J. Dalton, University of California, Irvine