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01-01-2010

Online public deliberation for a regional transportation improvement decision

Author: Michael B. Lowry

Published in: Transportation | Issue 1/2010

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Abstract

This paper investigates the potential for deliberation as a means for public participation in shaping public policy. The paper begins with a summary of deliberative democracy and other concepts that recently have motivated an interest for online deliberation. Next, the paper describes a case study in which 133 public participants deliberated over a regional transportation improvement decision. The deliberation occurred entirely over the internet and lasted for 31 days. The participants wrote hundreds of posts (comments) and made thousands of post-ratings (statements of agreement or disagreement). The posts and three questionnaires are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to assess the nature of the deliberation and the participants’ perception of their experience. A negative binomial regression is used to examine which participant characteristics are associated with writing more posts.

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Title: Online public deliberation for a regional transportation improvement decision
Author: Michael B. Lowry
Publication date: 01-01-2010
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Transportation / Issue 1/2010
Print ISSN: 0049-4488
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9435
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-009-9219-7

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