Archon Fung
This research will be an analysis of California Speaks, a statewide deliberative forum on health care reform that took place on August 11, 2007 in eight counties in California, involving over 3500 Californians. Professor Fung is using the deliberative event to examine several broad sets of questions. First, what do Californians want in health care policy reform and how does what they want change by engaging in focused deliberations about different policy alternatives? Second, how does highly visible public deliberation affect policy-makers and policy elites? That is, do some of them alter their positions to respond to articulated public values and preferences? Do elites attempt to manipulate deliberations? Do elites “spin” deliberation to suit whatever (prior) policy agendas they happen to have?