ABSTRACT
Governmental, non-governmental as well as private organizations increasingly pay attention to participatory and deliberative methods for involving the public in decisionmaking processes. WWViews is most generally characterized as the first-ever global citizen consultation, building on the growing number and variety of deliberative events at local, regional and national levels (Joss and Bellucci, 2002). In addition to the political dimension of having citizens of 38 countries voice their informed preferences about policy actions towards combating climate change, the WWViews process constituted a unique opportunity for conducting research and gaining more scientific insights into the structure and procedures of participatory processes. Empirical research in this field still lags behind theory and practice (Carpini et al, 2004, p315).
