Deliberative discourse practices in Slovenia's formal and non-formal public spheres

General information

Code: L5-5547
Period: 1.8.2013 - 31.7.2016
Range on year: 0.55 FTE | 2016
Project leader at FDV: prof.dr. Metka Kuhar
Research activity: Social sciences 

Abstract

Background:
In contemporary societies, there is a growing need to reconcile diverse perspectives and enhance the legitimacy of public decision-making. However, polarising modes of communication continue to dominate the public sphere. Formal political institutions are losing public trust, conventional forms of participation are declining, and citizens increasingly express the desire for greater influence over societal developments. Despite calls for a more prominent role of deliberation, there remains a significant lack of approaches that would more actively involve the public in discussions on complex social issues. Both research and practice increasingly recognise the importance of subjective and intersubjective psychological dimensions of deliberation, which, however, remain insufficiently explored.

Problem definition:
The project focused on the communicative and psychological aspects of deliberation. Its aim was to contribute to the development of deliberative democracy theory and practice by improving the understanding of how psychological factors shape the processes and outcomes of deliberation. Slovenia, as a post-transition country with a relatively short democratic tradition and an underdeveloped practice of deliberative procedures, represents a specific context in which such knowledge is particularly needed.

Project objectives:

1. To analyse the quality of deliberative discourse in two key contexts: among politicians in the formal institutional setting and among citizens in the informal public sphere.

2. To examine how expert facilitation influences the effects of attachment styles, the quality of deliberative discourse, and the willingness to revise positions in citizen deliberations.

3. To analyse the impact of attachment dimensions on the quality of deliberation and on participants’ readiness to transform and coordinate their positions.

Research methods:
The work was carried out in two modules. The first explored deliberations in both chambers of the Slovenian parliament on a selected contemporary topic. The second module analysed deliberative discussions among citizens.

The phases of the project and their realization

The first module of the project provides the first more comprehensive reflection on the deliberative quality of parliamentary discourse in Slovenia—an important contribution at a time when the legitimacy of formal political institutions is declining and public demand for influence on societal issues is increasing.

We analysed deliberativeness in the discussions on the Family Code (2009–2011) in the National Assembly, the National Council, and the Committee on Labour, Family, Social Policy and Disability of the National Assembly.

The central questions were:
(1) to what extent deliberative standards (equal inclusion, quality of justification, mutual respect, and constructive politics) were present across different parliamentary bodies and phases of the debate, and
(2) which actors actually enacted deliberative practices.

For this analysis, we upgraded the Discourse Quality Index (DQI). This part of the research was led by Prof. Dr. Metka Kuhar, in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gregor Petrič and Asst. Prof. Dr. Andraž Petrovčič.

In the second module, we conducted a deliberative experiment in the informal public sphere—a novel approach in the Slovenian context that opens new possibilities for citizen involvement in decisions on socially relevant issues. We selected the current topic of disciplinary practices in schools and communicated the resulting recommendations to decision-makers.

The discussions were conducted partly in a highly structured format (with professional facilitation) and partly in a less structured format (a total of 26 discussions).

The aim was to examine the impact of facilitation on the quality of discussions and on the willingness to change and coordinate positions. We developed specific measurement instruments, including tools for assessing the quality of deliberation and measuring attachment styles in the context of group discussions.

This part of the research was led by Prof. Dr. Metka Kuhar, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Robi Kroflič and Dr. Katja Jeznik (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana). The discussions were facilitated by Mag. Marjeta Novak and Natalija Vrhunc.

Research Organisation

https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/8727

Researchers

https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/8727

Citations for bibliographic records

https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/8727

Key words

attachment styles, attitude formation, attitude transformation, citizen deliberation, deliberation, deliberative democracy, discourse quality index, facilitation, group communication, informal public sphere, parliamentary discourse, participation, psychological dimensions of deliberation, public sphere