Affiliations: [a] Åbo Akademi University, Social Science
Research Institute, P.O. Box 311, FIN-65101 Vasa, Finland | [b] Åbo Akademi University, Dept. of Political
Science, FIN-20500 Åbo, Finland
Abstract: Two contemporary promises of participatory democracy are addressed
in the present article; (a) democratic decisions reached in small group
deliberation between lay citizens and (b) the possibility to exploit
information and communication technology in democratic dialogue and decision
making. Initially, a quasi-experimental approach was used to explore the
potential and impact of face-to-face deliberation between citizens. In this
design, a random sample of adult citizens was first surveyed and invited to
take part in the experiment. The original face-to-face experiment was a one-day
event where the participants received impartial information, questioned an
expert panel and discussed in small groups. The participants were randomly
allocated to 12 small groups consisting of a dozen persons each. The question
at hand was whether a sixth nuclear power plant should be constructed in
Finland. Later on, the face-to-face experiment was replicated virtually. The
article has two main research questions. First, it investigates how a virtual
environment can be used for deliberation and decision making. Second, it
examines how information and deliberation in small groups affect participants'
knowledge and opinions on energy politics. It is found that both modes show
considerable resemblance in their outcome.
