Editing Deliberative democracy (section)

===Fishkin's model of deliberation===
[[James Fishkin]], who has designed practical implementations of deliberative democracy through [[deliberative polling]] for over 15 years in various countries,{{sfn|Ross|2011|loc=Chapter 3}} describes five characteristics essential for legitimate deliberation:
*''Information'': The extent to which participants are given access to reasonably accurate information that they believe to be relevant to the issue
* ''Substantive balance'': The extent to which arguments offered by one side or from one perspective are answered by considerations offered by those who hold other perspectives
* ''Diversity'': The extent to which the major positions in the public are represented by participants in the discussion
* ''Conscientiousness'': The extent to which participants sincerely weigh the merits of the arguments
* ''Equal consideration'': The extent to which arguments offered by all participants are considered on the merits regardless of which participants offer them<ref>{{Cite book|title = When the People speak|last = Fishkin|first = James S.|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2009|isbn = 978-0-19-957210-6|location = Oxford|pages = 160f|url = https://archive.org/details/whenpeoplespeakd00fish_1|url-access = registration}}</ref>
Studies by [[James Fishkin]] and others have concluded that deliberative democracy tends to produce outcomes which are superior to those in other forms of democracy.{{sfn|Elster|1998|loc=Chapter 5}}<ref>Susan C. Strokes in her critical essay ''Pathologies of Deliberation'' (Chapter 5 of Elster 1998) concedes there that a majority of academics interested agree with this view.</ref> Desirable outcomes in their research include less partisanship and more sympathy with opposing views; more respect for evidence-based reasoning rather than opinion; a greater commitment to the decisions taken by those involved; and a greater chance for widely shared consensus to emerge, thus promoting social cohesion between people from different backgrounds.{{sfn|Fishkin|2011|loc=Chapters 2 & 3}}{{sfn|Ross|2011|loc=Chapter 3}} Fishkin cites extensive empirical support for the increase in public spiritedness that is often caused by participation in deliberation, and says theoretical support can be traced back to foundational democratic thinkers such as [[John Stuart Mill]] and [[Alexis de Tocqueville]].{{sfn|Fishkin|2011|p=103}}<ref>See also Chapter 5 of Fishkin (2011), which gives detailed citations to the empirical work. The specific Mill work cited is ''Considerations on Representative Government'' (1861), and the specific Tocqueville work cited is ''Democracy in America'' (1835).</ref>