Abstract

One important critique of deliberative democracy and the practice of public forum is the extent to which controversial, moral, or symbolic issues can be well deliberated through oral discussion. This study attempted to apply multiple methods to study the dynamics of discussion about determining the name of Taiwan. Six young adults, selected from a telephone survey, were invited to attend a forum to discuss a series of political issues, including this most sensitive and controversial issues in Taiwan. The choices of each participant (preferring a new name for Republic of China or continuing to use the old one) in the telephone survey and the group discussion were recorded. Three participants who changed their choices during the deliberation process were interviewed.

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