18 March 2026
Speakers: Dr Alice Moseley (Associate Professor in Public Policy & Administration, University of Exeter), Dr Lise Herman (Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Exeter)
Chair: Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team)
Details: This IPEN seminar will be of interest to all those concerned with promoting greater public engagement with the process and outcomes of deliberative processes in the current media environment.
Public visibility and democratic legitimacy are essential for the survival of any innovation promoted by parliaments or governments. If such innovations are to be institutionalised, it is vital that they engage citizens beyond their confines and spur deliberation within society at large. To what extent do Citizen Assemblies achieve these aims so far, and how might they be designed with these aims in mind going forward?
In this seminar, Lise Herman and Alice Moseley will use the examples of the French and UK climate assemblies to explore the ways in which the media portrayed them and framed the public discussion of their results. They will draw on a recent study by a team at the University of Exeter which centres on analysis of media output on the assemblies from different angles, including coverage of process, outcomes and potential media bias.
They argue that contradictory media coverage to support and criticise deliberative processes is essential to produce effective public engagement with democratic innovations. This seminar will provide evidential support for this endeavour and an opportunity to share experiences and research from other parts of the world.
More information
This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).
Find out more about the network.
Image
Climate Assembly UK, 2020. Photo by Fabio de Paola / PA Wire.