Applicability of broader online-deliberation findings to deliberative mini-publics

Determine to what extent lessons from broader-purpose online deliberation platforms can be applied to design choices for deliberative mini-publics in a dedicated online environment.

Background

The paper discusses prior research on online deliberation platforms, including debates over anonymity, participant identification, rationality, civility, participation, and inclusion. That literature concerns broader-purpose platforms, such as social media, rather than environments specifically designed for deliberative mini-publics.

Because deliberative mini-publics impose distinct requirements concerning structured discussion, moderation, representativeness, and participant interaction, it remains unresolved whether design lessons derived from general online platforms transfer effectively to dedicated mini-public settings. Establishing the extent of that applicability would inform the design and evaluation of online deliberation systems such as the Stanford Online Deliberation Platform.