The shaping of collective values through deliberative democracy: An empirical study from New York's North Country

Participatory planning and policy analysis has gained increasing attention in recent years because of its potential to improve the knowledge base for policy design (substantive benefits), increase the likelihood of stakeholde r compliance and support (instrumental benefits), and strengthen the democr atic legitimacy of public policies (normative benefits). Deliberation among stakeholders is considered essential for participatory policy analysis, re presenting a democratic process for clarifying the particular as well as th e collective goals and values as well as the potential impacts of alternati ve policies. This study examines the effects of democratic deliberation on participants' viewpoints of the policy domain (the local food system), base d on two-and-a-half day participatory planning events in each of six rural counties in northern New York. Participant viewpoints were assessed several weeks before and after these events, using Q methodology. The results reve al three major viewpoints, representing concerns for social justice, the vi ability of conventional agriculture, and the potential environmental and so cial externalities associated with conventional agriculture. The substance of these viewpoints remain unchanged before and after the deliberative even ts, but the salience of the conventional agriculture viewpoint increased an d the salience of the social justice and alternative agriculture viewpoints decreased significantly, even among those participants who most clearly de fined the latter two viewpoints. These findings, together with an analysis of the action agendas emerging from these planning events, suggest that loc al deliberative processes may produce outcomes that are neither fair nor ef ficient and that reflect the values and interests of certain stakeholders m ore than others, even in the absence of overt conflict. Moreover, it appear s that such processes may cause some participants to alter their viewpoints in ways that appear contrary to their values and interests as expressed pr ior to the deliberative event. The implications for participatory policy an alysis are explored.