Essays on Deliberation and Voting in Small-Groups

This dissertation examines how characteristics of process design for decision-making influence deliberation and voting in small groups. Decisions in small groups are made in numerous democratic and organizational contexts, such as citizen panels or committees. A well-designed process increases trust and the legitimacy of voting decisions, even if they do not represent dissenting opinions. Deliberative processes aim to aggregate opinions and attitudes on a specific topic in a fair and informed manner. However, certain conditions, such as group composition or voting rules, produce different outcomes. Voting rules influence not only how preferences for a decision are aggregated, but also, for
example, the visibility of minorities. Majority rules can have a marginalizing effect, while structured systems, such as the median rule, can reduce conformity and avoid groupthink. The choice of how to design certain elements can be crucial for a decision-making process, because herd behavior and the formation of echo chambers can lead to polarization and reinforce more extreme positions. The design of such processes is therefore central to the
... mehrquality of collective decisions and forms the basis for implementing adaptive mechanisms. This dissertation examines how the characteristics of process design influence collective decisions in small groups. It considers (1) the composition of groups (homogeneous or heterogeneous in elections), (2) voting rules, (3) group size, and (4) a behavioral intervention to promote constructive discussion in polarized spaces. The results offer valuable
insights for institutional designers who develop inclusive participation processes and for organizations seeking to promote effective group decision-making.