Annex 1 - Measuring the impact of deliberative processes
Table 5: Potential impact of deliberative process, adapted from Demski and Capstick 2022: Impact of Climate Assemblies and Michels and Binnema 2019: Deliberative Democracy at local levelType of impactArea of impactInstrumental impacts:Changes to how things work and what happens: policies, behaviour, practiceConceptual Impacts:Changes to how people think: knowledge,understanding, attitudesCapacity-building impacts:Changes to what people do: skills development, ability, confidencePolicy: Effects on public policy and political decision-makingKey actors: policy-makers, politicians, parliamentarians, civil servants, advisory bodiesChanges to policy and legislation, and resulting actionChanges to political debate/positions on issueChanges to policy-makers knowledge and understanding of diverse public perspectives on policy issueChanges to policy-makers understanding of and attitudes towards issue and issue related actionClarification of roles and responsibilities for policy issue actionCapacity-building focused on specific policy recommendations and policy areasCapacity-building to improve understanding of and integrating public perspectives into policy issuesChanges to (or new) political coalitions, networks, or cross-party collaborationsSocial: Effects on public discourse and public, business and civil society engagementKey actors: public, media, businesses and third-sector organisationsChanges to public action/behaviour changeChanges to media practices and coverage on issues and actionChanges to policies and practices in businesses and organisationsChanges to key actors' knowledge and understanding of diverse perspectives on policy issuesChanges to key actors understanding of and attitudes towards policy issue and related actionClarification of roles and responsibilities for policy actionCapacity-building in the media to support new formats and ways of communicating about policy issue (and public perspectives)Capacity-building within business and third-sector organisations to support new initiativesCapacity-building focused on enabling key groups in society to participate in decision-makingSystemic: Effects on democratic systems and systems-thinkingChanges to democratic systems/forms of GovernanceSystems-thinking embedded in decision-making and governanceChanges to understanding of and attitudes towards the use of deliberative processesChanges to understanding of policy issue challenging more foundational aspects of societyIncreased trust and sense of empowerment among publicCapacity-building focused on the use of deliberative processes and new forms of governanceCapacity-building focused on addressing policy issue from a systems perspective