A deliberative referendum is a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

that increases public deliberation through purposeful institutional design.Levy, Ron (2013) "Deliberative Voting: Realising Constitutional Referendum Democracy"

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

^:557 The term "deliberative referendum" stems from

deliberative democracy Deliberative democracy or discursive democracy is a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. Deliberative democracy seeks quality over quantity by limiting decision-makers to a smaller but more representative sample ...

,^:509 which emphasises that "the legitimacy of decisions can be increased if...decisions are preceded by authentic deliberation."^:903 Deliberative design features can promote public deliberation prior to and during the referendum vote to increase its actual and perceived legitimacy. Leib, Ethan J (2006) "Can Direct Democracy Be Made Deliberative?" 54 Buffalo Law Review^:910 Deliberative referendums encourage open-minded and informed reasoning, rather than rigid "pre-formed opinions".^:508-512 " ter deliberations, citizens routinely alter their preferences".^:910 In practice, a deliberative referendum includes a variety of institutional design features. These include using a citizens' jury to set referendum questions and educate the public, further public education via mandatory interactive tutorials before voting, and focusing referendums on broad values rather than technicalities. Some authors note how legal regulation can also aid referendum deliberation.^:523 One deliberative referendum method is the Citizens' Initiative Review; this is a randomly-selected body, similar to a citizen's jury, convened specifically to deliberate on a ballot initiative or

that voters in the same jurisdiction (such as a city, state, province, or country) will later vote on. John Gastil and Robert Richards, "Making Direct Democracy Deliberative Through Random Assemblies" (2013) 41(2), Politics & Society Constitutional deliberative referendums can "provide citizens with a meaningful say in determining the most fundamental constitutional decisions that affect their lives".Tierney, Stephen (2013) "Using Electoral Law to Construct a Deliberative Referendum Moving Beyond the Democratic Paradox" 12(4) Election Law Journal^:510 Voter deliberation is significant here as the referendum result could change the state's political status or impact the enjoyment of human rights.^:559

References

{{reflist Political philosophy Referendums Group decision-making Democracy Deliberative groups