Why bringing politicians and the public closer to each other is important

Here’s Peter Levine on the study of deliberation:

“The other main source of evidence in Neblo et al is a field experiment, in which people were offered the chance to deliberate with real Members of Congress. They were more likely to accept if they had negative attitudes toward elected leaders and the debates in Washington. Again, that could be because they don’t reject deliberation in principle but dislike the official debates that they hear about or watch on TV. People who held those skeptical views were especially impressed by an offer from their real US Representative to deliberate. Individuals were also more likely to accept the offer to deliberate if they were young and if they had low education.

Further, if they showed up to deliberate, their opinions of the experience were very positive. According to the paper, “95% Agreed (72% Strongly Agreed) that such sessions are ‘very valuable to our democracy’ and 96% Agreed (80% Strongly Agreed) that they would be interested in doing similar online sessions for other issues.” These results are consistent with almost all practical deliberative experiments.”

Very boringly, I’d like to cut-and-paste Burke’s speech to the Electors of Bristol yet again (sorry to be repetitive). I’m underlining the bit that I think that everyone focusses upon and emboldening the bit that I think is often ignored.

“…it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living.”

Peter’s conclusions are very positive. But isn’t that line – “….dislike the official debates that they hear about or watch on TV…” – it does suggest that politics – and the way that the media report and portray political discourse – is getting in the way of democracy. We seem to have allowed the media to take sole responsibility for a task to which they are very clearly unsuited.