The Australian Citizens' Parliament: forging shared identity through public deliberation

Active citizen participation is increasingly being recognized as essential to effective public policymaking. A key challenge for public administrators is how to effectively engage constituents' diverse viewpoints in sound deliberation that will likely result in coherent, agreed judgments. This...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public affairs 2010-11, Vol.10 (4), p.353-371
Main Authors: Hartz-Karp, Janette, Anderson, Patrick, Gasti, John, Felicetti, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Citizen participation
Cultural identity
Democracy
Electorate
Federal government
Federalism
Identity formation
Nationalism
Parliament
Policy making
Political behavior
Political culture
Public administration
Public policy
Public sector
Sampling
Social policy
Studies
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Summary:Active citizen participation is increasingly being recognized as essential to effective public policymaking. A key challenge for public administrators is how to effectively engage constituents' diverse viewpoints in sound deliberation that will likely result in coherent, agreed judgments. This paper investigates one such public deliberation process, Australia's first Citizens' Parliament, which brought together 150 randomly sampled Australian citizens charged with the task of formulating concrete policy proposals to be considered by the Federal government. One unexpected outcome of this initiative, especially given Australian ambivalence about nationalism, was the emergence of a shared identity among participants that appeared to bridge cultural and geographical divides. We explore linkages between salient elements of the deliberative process, the emergence of a sense of ‘being Australian’, and the final agreed list of policy recommendations that indicated an understanding of and commitment to the ‘common good’. If the emergence of a shared identity is acknowledged as a key to the development of a coherent public voice, then further examination of these linkages will be critical to the efficacy of future public deliberations. Moreover, given the heterogeneous nature of the Australian electorate and the challenges inherent in the country's federal governance structure, the findings have significant implications for policymakers in similar constituencies, notably the EU and the USA. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1472-3891
1479-1854
DOI:10.1002/pa.370