'''Group Dynamic'''
In this stage, over 700 participants were gathered into many small groups to begin group deliberation on the three selected issues. The organizers understood that managing the group dynamics was “crucial for success” and therefore developed a highly-structured program with specially trained mediators. The deliberative program would have to maximize inclusion – to make sure every participant could contribute (both for the initiative legitimacy as well as adhering to the goal of a diversity of opinions). A script was developed with a variety of activities so as to “minimize the social thresholds for fully participating in the discussions”. This was meant to adhere as close as possibly to the ‘ideal deliberative procedure’ with equality among participants as well as freedom from external influences.
The deliberation began with a short introductory round followed by lectures by ‘experts’ to help educate the citizens about the issues and define the problems at hand. This continued deliberation took the form of various exercises and different modes of discussions (different interaction styles, differing group sizes) to attempt to mitigate any “cognitive diversity” among the participants. Throughout the deliberative process, stages of “concrete inputs” were included to give a tangible structure (with results) for the participants to remain motivated and connected.
===Third Stage===
'''Citizen's Panel'''
After completing the Group Dynamic stage, a further 32 participants were randomly selected from the original 700 to take part in the third stage: the Citizen’s Panel (32 was considered a number “large enough to ensure both maximal diversity and optimal group dynamics”). At this stage, the participants met together over three weekends to develop policy recommendations based on the group deliberations. The final question the participants decided to handle was ‘how to adress [sic] labour issues and unemployment in our society’. A comprehensive policy paper was formulated with a list of recommendations for the government (which had – by then – been formed). However, the recommendations were simply that – non-binding advice that the government could choose to read and implement. After concluding the G1000 initiative, the organizers began to analyze their model as well as the results. They identified 3 measures of legitimacy: input legitimacy, throughput legitimacy and output legitimacy (Generating, 2013: 3). The input legitimacy corresponds to the first aspect we seek to explore: the construction of the deliberative ‘mini-public’. The organizers defined the input legitimacy as being measured by the citizens’ ability to participate and influence the deliberation. This includes two “central” criteria: the “quality of representation” and the “openness of the agenda”.
==Aftermath==