Online Deliberation
Monday the 9th of October 2023
15:00 (Paris)
Deliberative democrats hold the view that discussion is just as crucial to democracy as voting. Proponents of this view believe that digital tools – social media and voting apps – can and should play a central role in a democratic society. But what are the drawbacks and pitfalls of online deliberation? How “deliberative” are current online platforms for participation, or social media more generally? Where, why, and how should we (not) move deliberation online? The aim of this meet-up is to shed light on these questions both from the viewpoint of practitioners, and in light of current scientific work on the topic.
Chair in Philosophy and Decision Theory
(Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU Munich)
Christian List previously held a chair at the London School of Economics. Christian has published highly influential work in analytic philosophy, on a range of different subjects: from free will and determinism, to his celebrated work (with Philip Pettit) on group agents and group agency, and on reason-based rational choice (with Franz Dietrich). In this meetup, he will build on his earlier work with John Dryzek and James Fishkin connecting social choice theory and deliberative democracy. In particular, he will consider the (potentially) beneficial effects of online deliberation on the emergence of single-peaked opinions or preferences.
President and CEO
(Citizens Foundation, Iceland)
Robert Bjarnason has been a successful entrepreneur that introduced the Web to Iceland in 1993 and in 1995 to Denmark, and led several award-winning teams in the video game industry. Robert has extensive experience with AI algorithms and 3D software spanning over 25 years. In this talk he will share his experiences with the Your Priorities platform that was launched by the Citizen Foundation, as a tool for online deliberation, ideas generation, and participatory budgeting.