Deliberative Polling^®: California

California's First Statewide Deliberative Poll ^®

On June 24, 2011, a scientifically selected random sample of 412 registered voters from throughout the state participated in California’s first ever statewide Deliberative Poll on governance reform, in Torrance, CA. The turnout for the “What’s Next California?” Poll was unprecedented in the 17 year history of Deliberative Polling^® and the participants came prepared and eager to share their views and engage with fellow Californians in discussions about how our state is governed.

The Poll focused on four issue areas: The statewide initiative process, legislative representation, local government, and tax and fiscal policy. A total of 30 proposals were considered in these four areas. Over the course of the weekend’s deliberations participants became more informed and in many cases changed their views significantly after deliberation with peers. What do California voters think should be done to fix the state when they focus on the substance of the issues? “What’s Next California?” offers some clear answers.

View the #NextCA Twitter archive and Flickr photostream from the poll.

• By the People: What's Next California?
  View the PBS Newshour documentary on the What's Next California Deliberative Poll^®.
• What's Next California? The Informed Voters's Path to Political Reform
  James Fishkin announces the results and discusses the Deliberative Poll^® at the Commonwealth Club of California

Final Report

• Final Report: Overview
  • Summary Results
  • Regression Analyses
  • Supplementary Report on Transcripts
  • Crosstabs: Party Affiliation
  • Crosstabs: Ethnicity
  • Crosstabs: Region
  • Crosstabs: Age
  • Crosstabs: Income
  • Crosstabs: Education
  • Crosstabs: Gender

Initial Results

• What's Next California? Overview and Results
  • Complete before and after responses, with means
  • Initial phone survey with pre/post deliberation results
  • Representativeness of sample
  • Knowledge gains
  • Evaluations
  • Responses by Party affiliation
  • Responses by Ethnicity
  • Responses by Region
  • Responses by Age
  • Responses by Income

Procedures

• Participant Guide: What's Next California?
• NextCA.org
• James Fishkin: "They're Teaching Themselves About the Issues"

NextCA Blog

• Deliberative Poll Affirms Californians’ Desire For Change PDF
• In Their Own Words PDF
• Viewpoint: A Graduate Student at the Deliberative Poll PDF
• Poll finds strong desire for accountability and real solutions PDF
• A Moderator’s Perspective from the Deliberative Poll PDF
• Day 3 Overview & Highlights PDF
• Day 2 Overview & Highlights PDF, VIDEO
• A Chance to Speak Out PDF
• Quick Takeaways from the Initiative Process Discussions, PDF
• A Holistic Approach to Budget Cuts PDF
• Day 1: Organizers and Participants Set the Scene PDF, VIDEO

Press

• Interested in What Californians Really Think about Initiative Reform? Remember “What’s Next CA?” , Fox & Hounds, 2/2013 PDF
• Proposition generated by the California state-wide Deliberative Poll is endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News
• What the People Want–When They Think About It, SFGate City Brights Blog, 5/2012 PDF
• Viewpoints: Californians want to change initiative process, The Sacramento Bee, 5/2012 PDF
• The Deliberative Initiative: Returning Direct Democracy to the People, SFGate City Brights Blog, 2/2012. PDF
• A California experiment in democracy, San Francsico Chronicle, 1/2012 PDF
• A people's tool for democratic reform, SFGate - The Opinion Shop, 12/2011 PDF
• California Voters Fed-Up With Gridlock as Budget Crunch Lingers, PBS Newshour, 11/2011 VIDEO
• How to Fix California’s Democracy Crisis, New York Times PDF
• Governor could improve voters' trust in government, San Francisco Chronicle, PDF
• ‘Deliberative polling’ lets voters think twice, Futurity, PDF
• The End of California Progressivism, Fox & Hounds PDF
• Statewide initiatives may result from Stanford-led 'deliberative polling', Stanford Report PDF
• California: A Season of Reform, Advancing a Free Society PDF
• Deliberative Poll Says: Waste Not, Want Not, Fox & Hounds PDF
• Voters unhappy with politicians, but ambivalent on reforms, Sacramento Bee PDF
• Poll: Longer Legislative Terms, Stronger Initiative System, KQED News PDF
• Informed Californians Change Mind On Taxes, KPBS PDF, MP3
• What's Next California? Deliberative Poll Results Released, The Bill Lane Center for the American West PDF
• The growing use of tech tools in politics, Good Morning Silicon Valley PDF
• Florence 'Winkie' Evans: What’s Next, California?, Visalia Times-Delta
• "What's Next California" a Success, Common Cause Blog PDF
• Special Report: What’s Next, California?, Big Picture Report PDF
• California Voters Ask: What Happened to Our State?, PBS Newshour PDF
• Deliberative Poll Shows Support for Restructuring and Two-Year Budgets, Bay Citizen PDF
• 300 Californians. One Deliberative Poll. One What?, KQED California Report, 6/2011 PDF
• Can California Slow Down and Deliberate?, NBC Bay Area PDF
• A Poll of a Different Sort, Common Cause Blog PDF
• Can Deliberative Polling Work? Debating the Prospects for What's Next California, New America Foundation PDF
• It’s Up to You: Making Direct Democracy More Deliberative, Zócalo Public Square Nexus PDF
• A group of randomly selected citizens, engaged in a new kind of polling developed at Stanford, gathers this weekend to tackle California's problems, Stanford Report PDF
• Can Deliberative Poll Solve California’s Girlfriend Problems?, Fox & Hounds
• Coalition of Reformers, Academics and Foundations to Conduct California’s First-Ever Statewide Deliberative Poll, Press Release
• Californians brainstorm state's political issues, San Francisco Chronicle PDF

San Mateo Countywide Assembly on Housing Choices

Is there a critical housing shortage in San Mateo County? If so, what should be done about it? A scientific sample of county residents recently participated in a Deliberative Poll^® sponsored by Threshold 2008, a coalition of civic groups in the county. The weekend sample of 238 participants considered competing policy options, became more informed about them, questioned competing experts and by the end of the weekend, changed their views. The Deliberative Poll^®, conducted as part of a Countywide Assembly on Housing Choices, was hosted by Cañada College on the weekend of March 15-16, 2008.

Results