In 2019, we carried out a deliberative citizens’ jury in Korsholm. The jury’s task was to consider the proposed municipal merger between Korsholm and Vaasa. The jury produced a public statement that was mailed to all eligible voters in Korsholm, with the aim of helping voters make considered voting decisions. The citizens’ jury was part of the PALO research project funded by the Strategic Research Council.
In 2019, there were plans to merge the municipality of Korsholm into Vaasa. An advisory municipal referendum was held on the merger, and the citizens’ jury was organised ahead of the vote. The jury provided voters with information on the most important facts about the merger and the main arguments for and against it. The jury followed an initiative evaluation system developed in Oregon called the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR). The Korsholm citizens’ jury was the first time the CIR model was piloted outside the United States and in a bilingual setting.
A random sample of 1,400 Korsholm residents were invited to the jury. From those who responded positively to the invitation, a citizens’ jury was formed to represent Korsholm’s population “in miniature”. The jury was held in February 2019 and had 21 participants. The jury worked bilingually in Swedish and Finnish.
The jury met over two weekends. During the first weekend, the jury heard from politicians and experts and familiarised itself with the topic using background materials. It then discussed the relevance and reliability of claims raised in the discussion. During the second weekend, the jury developed and refined the claims further and drafted a public statement based on them. The statement contained key facts about the municipal merger and a list of the most important arguments for and against it. The statement was mailed to all voters before the referendum and published online.
Demokratian uudistamisen tutkimusryhmä, Turun yliopisto
Filosofian, poliittisen historian ja valtio-opin laitos
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta
20014 Turun yliopisto
Vastuullinen tutkija professori Maija Setälä maija.setala@utu.fi
