ABSTRACT
This chapter uses representative cases to illustrate a broader analytic framework for thinking about deliberation and public consultation in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere. It argues that at least in theory, an even wider range of possibilities exists for effective public deliberation. A process of democratic deliberation brings people together to conduct a rigorous analysis through a democratic social process oriented toward making a collective judgment using one or another democratic decision rule. When setting participants' expectations for policy influence, it is important to note that a successful deliberative consultation should not direct government bodies to mindlessly affirm or abandon their previous policy judgments. Pierangelo Isernia explains that through the EuroPolis, deliberators, among other things, 'become more informed, more open to the views of others', and 'more willing to subscribe to policy alternatives that may require substantial short term sacrifices'.
