Deliberative Democracy Summer School

Deliberative democracy stands at a critical crossroads. After decades of experimentation, the institutionalization of deliberative mini-publics signals both the maturation of the "deliberative wave" and a moment of reckoning about its transformative promise. As practices spread across continents, new questions arise about the globalization — and necessary decolonization — of deliberative democracy, challenging Eurocentric models and foregrounding plural democratic practices. At the same time, rapid advances in artificial intelligence present both unprecedented opportunities for scaling participation and profound risks to epistemic integrity and human agency. These pressures unfold amid intensifying environmental crises that demand a shift toward more-than-human democracy, alongside escalating extremist attacks that test democratic resilience worldwide. This Summer School invites participants to engage these urgent tensions, rethink the futures of public deliberation, and explore how democratic innovations can respond to a turbulent and unequal world.

You are invited to submit paper proposals for the 8th Deliberative Democracy Summer School, taking place on 16–18 February 2027 at the University of Canberra, Australia. This summer school is the Centre for Deliberative Democracy's flagship programme for PhD students from around the world. We are accepting submissions from PhD students presenting papers on any topic related to deliberative democracy. We especially encourage submissions that focus on deliberative theory, deliberative practice in the Global South, methodological innovations in public sphere research, the role of deliberation in building democratic resilience, and deliberation and AI.

Interested participants may submit their applications here. Papers will be assessed based on their relevance to the summer school's thematic priorities, as well as their contribution to a diverse range of topics and approaches across the programme.

There is no registration fee for the summer school, but participants are expected to fund and organise their own flights and accommodation.