Computers in Human Behavior 51 (2015) 461–469 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Facilitating personal deliberation online: Immediate effects of two ConsiderIt variations Hans Stiegler
1 , Menno D.T. de Jong
? University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Communication Science, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands article info Article history: Available online 1 June 2015 Keywords: Deliberation Informed debate Democracy Public opinion Human–computer interaction Website design
abstract A healthy democracy requires cognizant citizens who are willing and able to make informed decisions aboutpolitical issues. ConsiderIt isa softwareapplication aimed atfacilitating andencouragingpersonal deliberation. This article reports on a pretest–posttest experimental study (N=36) into the immediate effects of two possible variations of ConsiderIt: a version with prede?ned pro and con statements, and one in which users decide for themselves whether statements are pro or con. The participants used ConsiderIt in a controversial case on the position of Greece in the European Union. Data were gathered on changes in standpoint, perceived knowledge, perceived understanding, and general open-mindedness.Irrespectiveofthevariationused,theuseofConsiderItsigni?cantlyappearedtoaffect the users’ standpoint as well as their perceived knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. No effectswerefoundongeneralopen-mindedness. Qualitativedata,however,showedthatitwasstillhard fortheparticipantsto committhemselves tofull deliberative behavior. Based onthese ?ndings, itseems interesting to implement the usage of this type of software application in educational settings to con- tribute to a more deliberative society. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Democracyneedsthepoliticalengagementandcommitmentof citizenstosurviveandthrive.ManyWesterndemocraciesarecon- fronted with a steady decline of voter turnout in the past 50years (Blais & Rubenson, 2013; Niemi, Weisberg, & Kimball, 1993), and low voter turnouts among young people (Niemi & Hanmer, 2010). In Europe, the ongoing ?nancial crisis and its consequences have further challenged the European Union (EU) and its goal to democratically unite the countries on the European continent (De Vries & Edwards, 2009; Downs, 2011; Lubbers & Scheepers, 2010; Serricchio, Tsakatika, & Quaglia, 2013). The rise of populism and radical right-wing parties in several European countries is indicative of a growing polarization and a loss of middle ground in European politics (Schumacher & Rooduijn, 2013). To counteract such negative trends, politically interested and committedcitizensareneeded,whoarewillingandabletoengage inhealthydemocraticdiscourse.Thisneedrelatestotheconceptof public (or democratic) deliberation (Burkhalter, Gastil, & Kelshaw, 2002; Delli Carpini, Lomax Cook, & Jacobs, 2004). Burkhalter et al.
(2002) de?ne deliberation as ‘‘(a) a process that involves a careful weighingofinformationandviews,(b)anegalitarianprocess with adequate speaking opportu [...]

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