When politics meets deliberation: A country-level analysis in Europe

This chapter aims to explain the variation in parties’ support for deliberative practices using country-level determinants. The study tests the extent to which the number of relevant electoral competitors, the electoral system, the experience with deliberation, the age of (representative) democracy, and the population size can augment the support for deliberative practices. It controls for the duration of government, the share of left-wing parties in government, and party system polarisation. The analysis covers the period between 2019 and 2023 and uses data from all European Union (EU) member states along with the United Kingdom. The findings indicate that a low number of competitors, a long-lasting representative democracy, and a larger population enhance rhetorical support for deliberation among political parties. Meanwhile, the type of electoral system in use, previous experience with deliberation in the country, the ideological composition of the government, and party system polarisation are found to have no effect.