The emotional dynamics of deliberative democracy

Proponents of deliberative democracy claim that it can provide a fair, effi cient and creative method of collective decision making. In practice, howev er, all groups, including those consulted within public spaces for delibera tion such as consultative forums, are, in part, characterised by emotional dynamics that threaten to undermine such deliberation. These dynamics can d istort the process of deliberation, lead to sub-optimal outcomes and may ev en destroy the spaces of deliberation themselves. More positively, these af fective forces can be harnessed to further the alms of deliberative democra cy. For these negative and positive reasons, it is necessary to understand the emotional dynamics of groups and to apply this understanding to the des ign of public spaces for deliberative democracy. By focusing on the case of citizens' juries, this article shows how these aims can be furthered.