Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication, Stanford University
James S. Fishkin (born 1948) is an American political scientist and communications scholar. He holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication in the Department of Communication at
Stanford University, where he serves as a professor of communication and, by courtesy, political science. He also acts as the director of Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab. Fishkin is widely cited for his work on
deliberative democracy, with his proposition of
Deliberative Polling in 1988 being particularly influential. Together with
Robert Luskin, Fishkin's work has led to over 100 deliberative polls in 28 countries.[1]
The deliberative opinion poll, a concept proposed by Fishkin, involves gathering a representative random sample of people to deliberate on a specific issue. Participants are provided with briefing materials, carefully designed to represent all viewpoints in a balanced manner. After a day or more of deliberation, they are asked to register their considered opinions. These decisions have been used in various contexts such as electing candidates in primaries (e.g., in Greece), recommending policy decisions (e.g., in China and Texas), among other applications. It also served as the foundation for "Power and the People," a
Channel 4 program on which Fishkin consulted, airing in the UK from 1994 to 1999.
Publications
Books
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Deliberative democracy
Fishkin, James S. Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2018.
Fishkin, James S. When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Paperback edition, 2010. Japanese edition, 2010; Chinese edition, in press.
Laslett, Peter and James S. Fishkin. Debating Deliberative Democracy. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
Fishkin, James S. The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995; expanded paperback edition, Fall 1997.
Fishkin, James S. The Dialogue of Justice: Toward a Self-Reflective Society. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992; paperback edition, 1996.
Fishkin, James S. Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform. New Haven and London:
Yale University Press, 1991; paperback edition, 1993.
Laslett, Peter; Fishkin, James S. (Eds). Philosophy, Politics and Society, Sixth Series: Justice Between Age Groups and Generations. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992.
Political theory and philosophy
Goodin, Robert E.; Fishkin, James S. (Eds). Population and Political Theory (PPAS - Philosophy, Politics & Society). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Fishkin, James S. Beyond Subjective Morality: Ethical Reasoning and Political Philosophy. Yale University Press, 1986.
Fishkin, James S. Justice, Equal Opportunity and the Family. Yale University Press,1984.
Fishkin, James S. Limits of Obligation. Yale University Press, 1982.
This section contains a list that has not been properly sorted. Specifically, it does not follow the
Manual of Style for lists of works (often, though not always, due to being in reverse-chronological order). See
MOS:LISTSORT for more information. Please
improve this section if you can.(May 2024)
Fishkin, James S.; Luskin, Robert C. (September 2005). "The quest for deliberative democracy". The Good Society. 9 (1): 4–9.
JSTOR20710913.
Fishkin, James S.; List, Christian; McLean, Iain; Luskin, Robert (2002). Can deliberation induce greater preference structuration: evidence from deliberative opinion polls? Paper presented at the meeting of the
American Political Science Association, Boston, 26 August – 1 September.