The Consensus Conference on Genetic Diagnosis (Bürgerkonferenz „Streitfall Gendiagnostik“) brought together 19 randomly selected participants in 2001 across 2 weekends to discuss preimplantation genetic diagnosis, prenatal testing, preventive testing, and stem cell research.
Problems and Purpose
Background History and Context
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
It was initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and organized by the Hygiene Museum of Dresden.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The selection of participants took place in several steps. First, the organizers randomly selected postal addresses from population registers of German cities (following this rule: for each Bundesland, 250 addresses from the regional capital and a city with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants; and for the eight most populous Bundesländer, 250 addresses from cities with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants; thus, the initial sample was drawn from 40 cities and included 10,000 people). Approx. 300 people declared their interest (3%). These 300 people were then sorted into 20 groups: first, the sample was divided between men and women; then, each subgroup was divided in 3 age groups (16-30, 31-60, >60); then, for each gender, the age groups were divided by professional status (for the 16-30 years old: student, working, jobless; for the 31-60: working, housewife, jobless, other; for the >60: pensioner, working, jobless). Finally, the organizer had visitors of the museum randomly pick one participant within each of the 20 categories.
Methods and Tools Used
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Participants wrote a final report that was publicly presented in front of representatives of expert bodies and elected representatives. Participants positioned themselves in favor of preventive diagnosis, but under strict privacy conditions; pre-implantation diagnosis and stem cell research were rejected by most of the participants. Policy impact remains unknown, but is likely minimal.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
References
External Links
Notes
This entry is based on the POLITICIZE dataset. More information can be found at the following links:
- Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1
- Pilet J-B, Paulis E, Panel S.,Vitori D & Close C. 202X The POLITICIZE Dataset: an inventory of Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe. European Political Science.
