debating legislative intent: how lay citizens discern policy objectives in ballot initiatives
DESCRIPTION
[Full text of the paper associated with this presentation is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2447325 ] In earlier research concerning conflictual communication and negotiation, group members’ methods for determining the goals of an out-group have been examined, and goal-detection has been associated with “entativity,” or the development of members’ beliefs about the nature of both the out-group and their own group. No previous study appears to have explored the techniques used by members of groups engaged in policy deliberation to detect the goals of out-groups consisting of policy proponents, however. In this paper, methods used by deliberating panelists in the 2010 Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Reviews (CIRs) to discover initiative-proponents’ policy objectives were examined. Results indicated that CIR panelists employ some goal-detection methods—including inferences from the panelists’ own discussions, as well as the use of proponents’ testimony—not identified in other contexts, and likely associated with deliberative procedures promoting cooperation, information-sharing, and metacognition. The sequences in which panelists employed goal-detection techniques suggested a process of informal hypothesis testing motivated by uncertainty reduction. Further, in light of evidence of panelists’ goal-detection and entativity processes, a new model linking deliberative group members’ processes of goal-determination and of understanding the nature of their own group and of the policy-proponents’ group is proposed. In this model, deliberative group members come to understand their own and the proponents’ group as having multiple dimensions, including common participation in a superordinate collectivity, the public.TRANSCRIPT
DEBATING LEGISLATIVE INTENT: HOW LAY
CITIZENS DISCERN POLICY OBJECTIVES IN
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Robert C. Richards, Jr.
The Pennsylvania State University
Department of Communication Arts & Sciences
Presentation at National Communication Association, November, 2014
Overview
Previous Research and Goals for This Study
Methodology
Results
Conclusion
Setting
Small-Group Policy Deliberation
• Citizens’ Initiative Review, Citizens’ Jury,
Citizens’ Assembly / Parliament
• Example: Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review
The Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review
• Public deliberation by a random sample of 24 citizens on a ballot initiative; analysis is published in official voter guide
• In 2010 two measures: (1) Mandatory Minimums, and (2) Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
The Issue
Small groups seek to detect the goals of key out-
groups
For a small group deliberating about policy, the key
out-group is the group of proponents of the policy
No previous research examines how deliberative
groups detect the goals of policy proponents
Theoretical Concepts
Goal Detection
• Groups use particular techniques to detect out-
group goals; & in particular sequences
Entativity
• Group members gradually come to understand
the nature of the outgroup, and their own group
Literature Review
• Previous research identifies particular goal-
detection methods used in conflict
communication and negotiation
• Previous research suggests mutual
influence of in-group & out-group goal-
detection and entativity
• No previous studies examine goal-
detection in deliberative groups
Goal-Detection Methods from Previous
Research
• Direct request
• Inference from conduct
• Inference from group membership (e.g.,
stereotypes)
• Consulting third parties
• Perspective-taking
Context influences detection method
Previous studies concern conflict
communication and negotiation contexts:
• Direct requests are often impossible
• Indirect goal-detection methods are
common
Context influences expectations and
conduct
Earlier research concerns conflict
communication and negotiation contexts:
•Participants expect out-groups to act in
Self-Interest and seek Zero-sum
outcomes
• Information is hoarded, not shared
•Little incentive for meta-cognition
Goal Detection Influences Entativity
Awareness of out-group goals influences
perception of nature of out-group
Process of
Detecting
Out-group
Goals
Beliefs about
Nature of
Out-group
Goal Detection Influences Entativity (2)
Awareness of in-group goals influences perception
of nature of in-group
Process of
Learning
In-group
Goals
Beliefs about
Nature of In-
group
Out-group and In-group Entativity
Beliefs about nature of out-group influence beliefs about
nature of in-group
Beliefs about
Nature of
Out-group
Beliefs about
Nature of
In-group
Entativity Influences Goal-Detection
Beliefs about nature of In-group [indirectly] influence goal-
detection process
Beliefs about
Nature of
In-group
Process of
Detecting
Out-group
Goals
Goals of This Study
1. Determine deliberative groups’ goal-
detection methods and sequence in
which they are used.
2. Compare goal-detection methods of
deliberative groups & other groups
Goals of This Study (continued)
3. Determine associations between deliberative group’s detection of in-group and out-group goals
4. Determine how (3) affects associationsbetween deliberative groups’ entativitybeliefs about out-group & in-group
Methodology
Seek statements about out-group goal detection, in transcripts of 2010 Oregon CIRs
Search limited to statements previously coded as concerning “Policy Objectives”
N = 497 thought units
Main Results
1. CIR panelists used some
goal-detection methods not
used by other groups
Goal-detection
methods also used
in conflict /
negotiation
Goal-detection
methods particular
to deliberative
groups
• Direct requests
• Consulting third
parties
• Inference from
conduct
• Out-group’s
testimony
• Inference from
In-group’s discussion
New goal-detection methods are
consistent with deliberative context,
which emphasizes:
•Information sharing
•Meta-cognition
2. Indirect methods were used
first to develop tentative beliefs;
direct methods were used later
Observed Sequence
Day 1:
• Indirect methods: read secondary
materials, have group discussions, develop
tentative beliefs about out-group goals
Days 2-5:
• Direct & indirect methods: Pose direct
questions to proponents or others, have
group discussions, to confirm beliefs
Variation: When Confirmation Occurs
Rapid Confirmation
• Confirmation occurs very soon after
tentative beliefs formed
Delayed Confirmation
• Confirmation is delayed by two or more
days after tentative beliefs formed
Proposed Model: Informal Hypothesis
TestingDependent Variable:
• Certainty about beliefs regarding out-group goals
Independent Variables:
• Duration of deliberation
• Goal-detection methods used
Moderating Variable:
• Group consensus
Consensus as Moderator
Hypotheses:
• As time spent in deliberation increases, certainty
about out-group goals increases
• When group consensus is low, more time is
needed to increase certainty about out-group
goals (Delayed Confirmation Scenario)
• When group consensus is high, less time is
needed to increase certainty about out-group
goals (Rapid Confirmation Scenario)
3. Some panelists associated in-
group and out-group goal-
detection processes
“But if we’re writing this for the voters
to see and to read and to
understand—if they don’t even
understand there’s anybody out there
that needs it, they’re automatically just
going to vote against it no matter what
else you say—because that’s what the
idea of it is.” – Male panelist from
urban area
“But if we’re writing this for the voters
to see and to read and to understand
This is the goal of the deliberative
group itself – the In-Group Goal
The proponents’ goal – the Out-Group
Goal writing this for the voters to see
and to read don’t even understand
there’s anybody out there
that needs it [i.e., patients who need
medical marijuana], […]
—because that’s what the
idea of it is.”
Reason for association of In-Group and Out-Group goals: Knowledge of Out-Group goal determines voter behavior if we’re writing this for the voters to see and to read and to understand—if they don’t even understand there’s anybody out there that they’re automatically just going to vote against it no matter what else you say—because that’s what the idea of it is.”
4. Some panelists characterized
out-group goals as “our” goals
• “I don’t know that pouring money into punishing the third conviction is going to get us the results that we want”
• “The whole point is supposed to be that we are addressing people’s medical needs”
• “The purpose of this Measure is to help people. If we’re trying to tell people why do we need to help them? We’re trying to help them with something that isn’t available through other sources”
• “I don’t know that pouring money into punishing the third conviction is going to get us the results that we want”
• “The whole point is supposed to be that we are addressing people’s medical needs”
• “The purpose of this measure is to help people. If we’re trying to tell people why do we need to help them? We’re trying to help them with something that isn’t available through other sources”
• “I don’t know that pouring money into punishing the third conviction is going to get us the results that we want”
• “The whole point is supposed to be that we are addressing people’s medical needs”
• “The purpose of this measure is to help people. If we’re trying to tell people why do we need to help them? We’re trying to help them with something that isn’t available through other sources”
• “I don’t know that pouring money into punishing the third conviction is going to get us the results that we want”
• “The whole point is supposed to be that we are addressing people’s medical needs”
• “The purpose of this measure is to help people. If we’re trying to tell people why do we need to help them? We’re trying to help them with something that isn’t available through other sources”
How to interpret “We”?
•Knobloch and Gastil found
participation in CIR led to increase in
panelists’ identification as Oregonians
•This suggests that “We” in CIR
transcripts means, ‘A superordinate
collectivity: The public’
Hypothesis: Parallel Goal-Detection
Processes Influence Adoption of
Superordinate Collective Identity
Process of Determining
Own-Group’s Goals
Recharacterization
of Proponents’
Goals as Own
Goals
(Goals of
The Public,
Superordinate
Identity)
Time
Process of Determining
Proponent’s Goals
Explanation: Vicarious Deliberation:
Deliberating Panelists’ Dual Role
In Vicarious Deliberative Designs, such
as the CIR, panelists have a dual role:
•1. Trustees for the public
•2. Members of the public
Explanation: Vicarious Deliberation:
Deliberating Panelists’ Dual Role
In Vicarious Deliberative Designs, such
as the CIR, panelists have a dual role:
•1. Trustees for the public
•2. Members of the public
Mechanism: Category Salience
Acting in the role of Trustee for the Public,
while simultaneously performing the role of
Member of the Public, causes superordinate
category of The Public to become:
•Intimately Familiar
•Positively Valenced
•Highly Salient
Proposed Model:
Deliberative panelists’ parallel
entativity processes:
Simultaneous development of
panelists’ conception of their own
group identity and of the nature of
the proponents’ group
Self-
Conception:
Individuals
Conception
of
Proponents:
Individuals
Group
Identity:
Task Group
Conception
of
Proponents
as Group:
Task Group
Time
Group Identity (Level
1): Trustees for
Public
Deliberative Group Identity &
Conception of Proponents’
Group
(Level 2, Superordinate):
The Public
Conception of
Proponents’ Group
(Level 1): Interest Group
Conclusion
• Deliberative goal-detection involves
methods consistent with deliberative values
• Deliberative goal-detection process takes
form of informal hypothesis testing
• In-group and out-group goal-detection
processes are linked & influence entativity
• Parallel entativity processes lead to
adoption of superordinate collective
identity: The public
Full text
The full text of the paper associated
with this presentation is available at:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2447325
Acknowledgements
•Grateful thanks to:
• Dr. John Gastil and Dr. Mark Major of Penn
State University
• Dr. Katherine Knobloch of Colorado State
University
• Dr. Robin Stryker of the University of Arizona
Contact
Robert C. Richards, Jr., JD, MSLIS, MA, BA
• PhD Candidate
• The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication
Arts and Sciences
• Email: [email protected]
• Web: http://legalinformatics.wordpress.com/about/about-the-author/