The upsizing of public deliberation has downsized citizen expectations

Citizens are increasingly being asked to weigh in on decision-making processes, creating a strong sense they are being consulted over big decisions. But Caroline W. Lee argues that although public deliberation has indeed shifted political culture in meaningful ways, its long-term effects are more demobilising than liberating. She writes that if empowerment is just about allowing people to make hard choices, without giving them a say in the issues that have precipitated those choices, it is questionable as to whether democracy is being effectively “deepened”.