Ballot questions let voters decide on big issues. But with ad campaigns and special interests, reliable information can be hard to find. Professor John Gastil outlines an innovative solution—give a small group of citizens all of the information they need to make up their minds and share their findings with fellow voters.

For More on this Topic:

Read Gastil’s two-page brief on Citizens’ Initiative Reviews.
Check out his piece in The Washington Post

Further Reading:

Building Public Trust and Improving Policy Through Deliberative Engagement Between Officials and Citizens, Daniel Patterson, University of Utah
How Do Effective Associations Spur Citizen Engagement?, Hahrie Han, University of California, Santa Barbara

Episode 117: The Citizen Expert