Alice Siu, PhD Candidate, Communication, Stanford University
In the last five years, the local government of Zeguo Township has conducted four Deliberative Polls. Each of the Deliberative Polling® projects in Zeguo Township, Wenling City, gathered a scientific random sample of average citizens to deliberate about topics ranging from infrastructure projects, sewage and environmental projects to the entire 2008 proposed budget. The local government needed a venue for citizens to have an opportunity to openly deliberate, interact with policymakers, and reduce perceptions of corruption. This talk presents the Deliberative Polling projects conducted in Zeguo Township and in particular, discusses the results and impacts of the fourth Deliberative Poll conducted in February 2008.