In this week’s Conversations in Conflict Studies Speaker Series, guest speaker John Gastil talks about ‘Hope for Democracy: How an Election Reform You’ve Never Heard of Makes Politics (a Little) More Deliberative.”

John Gastil shared findings from his new book with Katherine Knobloch on how a political reform that began in Oregon could improve elections in the US and around the globe.  Gastil described the Citizens’ Initiative Review, which convenes a demographically-balanced random sample of citizens to study statewide ballot measures.  Citizen panelists interrogate advocates, opponents, and experts, then write an analysis that distills their findings for voters.  This process has helped voters better understand the policy issues placed on their ballots.  Placing this unique experiment in the larger context of deliberative democratic reforms, Gastil shows how citizens and public officials can work together to bring more rationality and empathy into modern politics.