Climate Conversations: A Comparative Study of Citizen Deliberations in FR and US
Governments globally enact laws to mitigate climate change, often sidelining citizen voices, leading to dissatisfaction and linking the climate crisis to one of democratic deficit. In an attempt to include citizens in the process, a variety of deliberative democracy experiments have been organized around the world. In 2019-2020, 150 randomly selected French citizens participated inthe Citizens Convention for Climate. In 2021, the first American Deliberative Poll on climate change, organized by the Deliberative Democracy Lab, involved 962 citizens from diverse backgrounds. This research collaboration aims to compare these unprecedented deliberations inFrance and the USA, examining processes, outcomes, successes, and failures. Do French and American citizens perceive the climate crisis similarly? Does the process influence outcomes? How do participants feel about engaging in climate deliberations? Additionally, a focus group willbring together participants from both deliberations to share experiences and approaches to climate change. Through this comparative research project, we aim to learn more about the efficacy of deliberative democracy in tackling complex global challenges like climate change andprovide guidance for future citizen-led policy-making procedures.