The emotional dynamics of deliberative democracy

Proponents of deliberative democracy claim that it can provide a fair, efficient and creative method of collective decision making. In practice, however, all groups, including those consulted within public spaces for deliberation such as consultative forums, are, in part, characterised by emotional dynamics that threaten to undermine such deliberation. These dynamics can distort the process of deliberation, lead to sub-optimal outcomes and may even destroy the spaces of deliberation themselves. More positively, these affective forces can be harnessed to further the alms of deliberative democracy. For these negative and positive reasons, it is necessary to understand the emotional dynamics of groups and to apply this understanding to the design of public spaces for deliberative democracy. By focusing on the case of citizens' juries, this article shows how these aims can be furthered.