A deliberative referendum is a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

that increases public deliberation through purposeful institutional design. The term "deliberative referendum" stems from deliberative democracy, which emphasises that "the legitimacy of decisions can be increased if...decisions are preceded by authentic deliberation." Deliberative design features can promote public deliberation prior to and during the referendum vote to increase its actual and perceived legitimacy.Leib, Ethan J (2006) "Can Direct Democracy Be Made Deliberative?" 54 Buffalo Law Review p.910. Deliberative referendums encourage open-minded and informed reasoning, rather than rigid "pre-formed opinions". " ter deliberations, citizens routinely alter their preferences". In practice, a deliberative referendum includes a variety of institutional design features. These include using a citizens' jury to set referendum questions and educate the public, further public education via mandatory interactive tutorials before voting, and focusing referendums on broad values rather than technicalities. Some authors note how legal regulation can also aid referendum deliberation. One deliberative referendum method increasingly in use is the Citizens' Initiative Review; this is a randomly-selected body, similar to a citizen's jury, convened specifically to deliberate on a ballot

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

that voters in the same jurisdiction (such as a city, state, province, or country) will later vote on.

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

deliberative referendums can "provide citizens with a meaningful say in determining the most fundamental constitutional decisions that affect their lives". Voter deliberation is significant here as the referendum result could change the state's political status or impact the enjoyment of human rights.Levy, Ron (2013) "Deliberative Voting: Realising Constitutional Referendum Democracy" Public Law p.559.

References

{{reflist Political philosophy Referendums Group decision-making Democracy