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Is Deliberation an Antidote to Extreme Partisan Polarization? Reflections on “America in One Room”

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  • FISHKIN, JAMES
  • SIU, ALICE
  • DIAMOND, LARRY
  • BRADBURN, NORMAN

Abstract

This paper is positioned at the intersection of two literatures: partisan polarization and deliberative democracy. It analyzes results from a national field experiment in which more than 500 registered voters were brought together from around the country to deliberate in depth over a long weekend on five major issues facing the country. A pre–post control group was also asked the same questions. The deliberators showed large, depolarizing changes in their policy attitudes and large decreases in affective polarization. The paper develops the rationale for hypotheses explaining these decreases and contrasts them with a literature that would have expected the opposite. The paper briefly concludes with a discussion of how elements of this “antidote” can be scaled.

Suggested Citation

  • Fishkin, James & Siu, Alice & Diamond, Larry & Bradburn, Norman, 2021. "Is Deliberation an Antidote to Extreme Partisan Polarization? Reflections on “America in One Room”," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(4), pages 1464-1481, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:115:y:2021:i:4:p:1464-1481_23
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    Cited by:

    1. Sara Wallace Goodman, 2022. "“Good Citizens†in Democratic Hard Times," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 699(1), pages 68-78, January.
    2. Berliner, Daniel, 2023. "Information Processing in Participatory Governance," SocArXiv snerh, Center for Open Science.
    3. Ximeng Fang & Sven Heuser & Lasse S. Stötzer, 2023. "How In-Person Conversations Shape Political Polarization: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from a Nationwide Initiative," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 270, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    4. Leininger, Julia, 2022. "International democracy promotion in times of autocratization: From supporting to protecting democracy," IDOS Discussion Papers 21/2022, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

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