How considered interests evolve in deliberation: evidence from Swiss citizens’ juries

Abstract

Citizens increasingly demand involvement in policymaking, driving the rise of participatory processes like deliberative minipublics. This article introduces a novel longitudinal survey measure to determine the extent to which citizens are more considerate of others’ interests as a result of their participation in such forums. The study explores how participants’ considered interests vary across demographics and process-related factors measured throughout five Swiss minipublics (2019–2023) on different topics and validated using word-embedding techniques on their transcripts. While results show that minipublic participants considered interests different from their own, individuals belonging to less advantaged groups did not consistently show greater consideration of others’ interests. Interest inclusiveness was higher among older individuals, low-income earners and participants in minipublics linked to referendums. This article explains how and why participants in minipublics consider interests beyond their own, which is essential for designing more inclusive participatory processes that engage people from diverse backgrounds in increasingly polarized societies.