Deliberative democracy in an unlikely place? Examining the quality and outcomes of deliberation within political parties

Deliberative democracy holds that legitimate decisions require high-quality deliberation characterized
by inclusion, respect, and consideration of diverse perspectives. Traditionally, political parties are
seen as hierarchical entities impeding such deliberation. Recently, however, scholars have begun
revisiting the potential for political parties to serve as forums for deliberative democracy. This project
aims to advance this emerging literature by conducting the first systematic empirical analysis of
deliberative quality and outcomes within political parties.
The project focuses on two dimensions of deliberative quality: (1) the inclusiveness of deliberations
and (2) the extent to which diverse perspectives are considered and weighed. Additionally, it
examines two dimensions of deliberative outcomes: (3) the occurrence of opinion change and (4)
members’ evaluations of the deliberative process. The project adopts a mixed-methods design to
examine variation in these dimensions by exploring factors like socio-demographic traits, power
status, and ideology at individual and group levels. It collects audio recordings and field notes of 40
local party branch meetings in Flanders. After the meetings it also surveys and interviews party
members.
The project's results would inform the debate on how parties can improve their internal organization
through qualitative deliberation. This is a timely enterprise given citizens' dissatisfaction with how
parties currently function.