| Abstract: |
Citizens’ Juries (CJs) are increasingly implemented as a means to engage
citizens in deliberation on complex policy challenges, yet their effectiveness
can be undermined by cognitive biases and limited value-driven reasoning. This
study evaluates the impact of bias alleviation and value activation exercises
on deliberative quality and civic engagement in four CJs conducted in Bogotá,
Colombia. Two juries incorporated these exercises as treatment interventions,
and two served as controls with extended deliberation time. Results reveal
that deliberation itself modestly reduced confirmation bias compared to
non-participants, while the structured interventions enhanced participants’
awareness of biases and value-based reasoning. However, the interventions did
not significantly reduce the occurrence of biases and led to a perceived
trade-off with deliberation time. Participation in CJs also showed improved
trust in science and political self-efficacy, demonstrating their potential to
foster civic engagement. These findings highlight the nuanced benefits and
limitations of integrating debiasing interventions into mini-publics to
enhance deliberative quality and equity in policymaking. |