TY - JOUR
T1 - Deliberation for Development
T2 - Ghana’s First Deliberative Poll
AU - Chirawurah, Dennis
AU - Fishkin, James
AU - Santuah, Niagia
AU - Siu, Alice
AU - Bawah, Ayaga
AU - Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Gordana
AU - Giles, Kathleen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 International Association for Public Participation. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This article poses the problem of public consultation in developing countries and applies a solution in Ghana as a test case. It describes the theoretical rationale for deliberative consultation with random samples, describes specific criteria for success, and then assesses an application under the challenging conditions of a developing country. It builds on notions of “deliberative democracy,” and shows how they can be practically realized in an African context through “Deliberative Polling” (DP). The challenge is that the context is one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest countries in Africa. Rather than consulting just stakeholders, or self-selected populations, or using conventional surveys, DP’s have the advantage of consulting random samples with deliberation in depth in confidential surveys so that the opinion changes can be evaluated at the individual level, free of social pressures for consensus. Is this practical in this context? A DP was conducted in Tamale, Ghana on issues of water, sanitation, hygiene and food security. Criteria for success for DPs that have been applied in highly developed countries are discussed and then applied in Ghana under challenging conditions.
AB - This article poses the problem of public consultation in developing countries and applies a solution in Ghana as a test case. It describes the theoretical rationale for deliberative consultation with random samples, describes specific criteria for success, and then assesses an application under the challenging conditions of a developing country. It builds on notions of “deliberative democracy,” and shows how they can be practically realized in an African context through “Deliberative Polling” (DP). The challenge is that the context is one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest countries in Africa. Rather than consulting just stakeholders, or self-selected populations, or using conventional surveys, DP’s have the advantage of consulting random samples with deliberation in depth in confidential surveys so that the opinion changes can be evaluated at the individual level, free of social pressures for consensus. Is this practical in this context? A DP was conducted in Tamale, Ghana on issues of water, sanitation, hygiene and food security. Criteria for success for DPs that have been applied in highly developed countries are discussed and then applied in Ghana under challenging conditions.
KW - Africa
KW - Deliberative Polling
KW - Deliberative democracy
KW - Ghana
KW - community consultations
KW - food security
KW - sanitation and hygiene
KW - water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090723860&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.16997/jdd.314
DO - 10.16997/jdd.314
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090723860
SN - 1937-2841
VL - 15
JO - Journal of Public Deliberation
JF - Journal of Public Deliberation
IS - 1
M1 - 3
ER -