Does Discussion Lead to Opinion Change? An Experiment in Deliberative Democracy

While the model of deliberative democracy gives a crucial role to dialogue, empirical evidence has not yet established if discussion helps to reach a better understanding of political issues and, above all, if individuals are prepared to change their views and preferences. This article presents an experiment carried out within the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the LUISS University of Rome. Students were asked to discuss in the classroom the course issues, and to cast a vote on selected issues before and after the deliberation. Although our sample is not representative, we have managed to gather evidences from the same population on a rather large number of issues. Students changed their view in 25.5 per cent of cases, they agreed that discussion increased their understanding of the various issues, while students with strong ex-ante views are more reluctant to change their opinions as a consequence of discussion. The experiment also shows the presence of impermeable and permeable subjects, the former which are more refractory to the discussion in changing their opinion, while the latter are more likely to change their preferences following deliberation. Thanks to their volatility, this second group can provide different majorities and so to be crucial in any electoral dynamics.