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Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States.

Title: 

Intersubjectively Relevant Information: An Account of Citizen-Centered Information and Communication in Democratic Deliberation about Ballot Initiatives

Access: (Abstract and full text) 

Abstract:

In deliberative-democratic theory, some authors have referred to a type of information—which is especially relevant to the interests, values, and personal characteristics of citizens—that when introduced into citizens’ policy discussions can foster democratic deliberation and beneficial outcomes of such deliberation. In this dissertation, that type of information, labeled “intersubjectively relevant information” (IRI), is conceptualized. The dissertation then presents a theoretical framework that posits explanations for IRI’s role in fostering deliberation among citizens in the context of ballot-initiative elections, as well as desirable changes in those citizens’ knowledge, attitudes, policy choices, and political efficacy. Then the empirical basis of the concept of IRI in the United States is established through a series of studies. These studies examine government lawyers’ practices for communicating about the legal aspects of proposed laws to non-lawyer official lawmakers, citizens’ communication practices when deliberating about proposed ballot initiatives, and undergraduates’ categorizations of statements by those citizens about legal aspects of ballot initiatives. Next, the extent to which IRI is actually used by governments in direct-democratic processes is assessed through an empirical analysis of official summaries of U.S. statewide ballot initiatives from 2000 through 2012. Finally, the effects of exposing citizens to IRI that has been incorporated into official summaries of ballot initiatives are examined in two controlled experiments. The dissertation concludes by summarizing results of the empirical studies, detailing a revised empirical model of the role of IRI in citizen deliberation, discussing avenues for further research on the role of information in democratic deliberation, and proposing reforms to ballot-initiative election procedures suggested by the results of the research.

Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, May 2016.

Ph.D. Student, University of Washington, Department of Communication, Seattle, Washington, September 2010 - May 2011.

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia, May 2006.

M.S., Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, August, 1996.

M.A., Communications Studies, University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, May 1994.

B.A., English (with honors), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, May 1992.

August 2015 - Present, Lecturer, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, State College, Pennsylvania. 

August 2011 - August 2015, Research Assistant, Graduate Instructor, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, State College, Pennsylvania. 

September 2010 - July 2011, Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant, University of Washington, Department of Communication, Seattle, Washington. 

May 2007 - October 2008, Head of Technical Services, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law Legal Research Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

March - April 2007, Acquisitions Librarian, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law Legal Research Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

February 1997 - July 2003, Technical Services Librarian, University of Colorado Law Library, Boulder, Colorado.

Richards, R., & Gastil, J. (2015). Symbolic-cognitive proceduralism: A model of deliberative legitimacy. Journal of Public Deliberation, 11(2), Article 3. (Full text and abstract)

Smith, G., Richards, R., & Gastil, J. (2015). The potential of Participedia as a crowdsourcing tool for comparative analysis of democratic innovations. Policy & Internet, 7, 243-262. doi:10.1002/poi3.93 (Preprint)

Brinker, D., Gastil, J., & Richards, R. (2015). Inspiring and informing citizens online: A media richness analysis of varied civic education modalities. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12128

Gastil, J., Richards, R., & Knobloch, K. R. (2014). Vicarious deliberation: How the Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review influenced deliberation in mass elections. International Journal of Communication, 8, 62-89. (Full text)

Knobloch, K. R., Gastil, J., Feller, T., & Richards, R. (2014). Empowering citizen deliberation in direct democratic elections: A field study of the 2012 Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review. Field Actions Science Reports (FACTS Reports), 11, 1-10. (Full text)

Gastil, J., & Richards, R. (2013). Making direct democracy deliberative through random assemblies. Politics & Society, 41, 253-281. doi:10.1177/0032329213483109 (Preprint)

Gastil, J., & Richards, R. (2013). New ideas on public deliberation from young scholars. Introduction: Innovations in deliberative electoral designs. Journal of Public Deliberation, 9(2), article 9. (Full text and abstract) 

Richards, R. (2011). Open, generative, and user centered: The potential of SMS-based legal technology for development. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, 6, 63-68. doi:10.1162/INOV_a_00058 (Full text and abstract)

Richards, R. (2011). The use of non-MARC metadata in AALL libraries: A baseline study. Law Library Journal, 103, 631-658. (Full text and abstract)

Richards, R. (2001). Licensing agreements: Contracts, the eclipse of copyright, and the promise of cooperation. Acquisitions Librarian, 26(1), 89-107. doi:10.1300/J101v13n26_05

Richards, R. (2000). Stewardship, partnership, self-understanding: An exploration of values in acquisitions work. Against the Grain, 12(3), 87-90.

Richards, R. (1999). A legal publishers’ list: Librarians cooperate to discern the corporate affiliations of U.S. legal publishers. Legal Reference Services Quarterly, 17(1/2), 23-31. doi:10.1300/J113v17n01_04

Richards, R. (1997). A feast of formats: Challenges to choosing the right medium for legal information. Against the Grain, 9(4), 52-57.

Richards, R. (1997). Politics by other media: A guide to national political information resources on the Internet. Reference Librarian, 27(57), 111-125. doi:10.1300/J120v27n57_14

Richards, R. (2016, June). U.S. state government lawyers’ goals and communicative practices for advising lawmakers about proposed laws: A Goals-Plans-Action study. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2016 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. (Abstract ; Slides)

Gastil, J., Richards, R., Reedy, J., Gabbay, M., & Kelly, Z. (2015, November). Deliberative and cultural orientations in small decision-making groups. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Communication Association, Las Vegas, NV.

Richards, R. (2015, May). When it comes from the people: The effects of reforming ballot initiative explanatory statements to accord with citizens’ legal communication practices. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, Seattle, WA. (Full text and abstract ; Slides)

Richards, R. (2014, November). From the people’s perspective: Assessing the representational validity of a coding scheme of citizens’ legal communication about ballot initiatives. Paper accepted for the 100th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL. (Full text ; Slides)

Gastil, J., Richards, R., & Smith, G. (2014, September). The potential of Participedia as a crowdsourcing tool for comparative analysis of democratic innovations. Paper presented at IPP 2014:  Internet, Politics, and Policy Conference: Crowdsourcing for Politics and Policy, Oxford, England, UK. (Full text)

Richards, R., & Gastil, J. (2013, November). Legislation by amateurs: The role of legal details and knowledge in initiative deliberation. Paper presented at the 99th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Washington, DC. (Preprint; Slides)

Richards, R., & Gastil, J. (2013, November). Symbolic-cognitive proceduralism as a robust justification for democratic deliberation. Paper presented at the 99th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Washington, DC. (Slides)

Richards, R. (2012, November). Legal narrative in the citizens’ panel: Identifying theories to explain storytelling in a small group deliberation about ballot initiatives. Paper presented at the 98th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Orlando, FL. (Full text, slides, and abstract)

Gastil, J., Knobloch, K. R., & Richards, R. (2012, May). Vicarious deliberation: How the Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review influences deliberation in mass elections. Paper presented at the 15th biennial Rhetoric Society of  America conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Richards, R., & Bruce, T. R. (2011, June). Examples of specialized legal metadata adapted to the digital environment, from The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Paper presented at dg.o 2011, the 12th International Conference on Digital Government Research, College Park, MD. (Full text, slides, and abstract)

Richards, R., & Bruce, T. R. (2011, June). Adapting specialized legal metadata to the digital environment: The Code of Federal Regulations Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules. Research abstract presented at ICAIL 2011, the 13th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law, Pittsburgh, PA. doi:10.1145/2018358.2018377 (Slides and abstract)

Richards, R. (2014, November). Debating legislative intent: How lay citizens discern policy objectives in ballot initiatives. Paper contributed to panel: Knobloch, K. R. (chair), An experiment in democracy: Deliberative governance and the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review, accepted for the 100th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL. (Full text and abstract ; Slides)

Gastil, J., Richards, R., & Smith, G. (2014, April). The potential of Participedia as a tool for comparative analysis of democratic innovations. Paper presented at the European Consortium for Political Research Joint Sessions workshop on Systematising Comparison of Democratic Innovations, Salamanca, Spain.

Gastil, J., & Richards, R. (2012, August). Making direct democracy deliberative through random assemblies. Paper presented at ASA 2012, the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. (Full text and abstract)

Richards, R. (2009, June). What is legal information? Paper presented at the Conference on Legal Information: Scholarship and Teaching, University of Colorado Law School, Boulder, CO. (Full text and abstract)

Richards, R. (1999). Ways to share the riches: Web-based resources for selective housing arrangements. Proceedings of the Annual Federal Depository Library Conference, 8, 63-66.

Beauvais, E., Yaylaci, Ş., & Richards, R. (2016, June). Participedia, the surveys: Collecting individual-level data. Presentation at Participedia Partners Meeting, Vancouver, BC.

Ryan, M., & Richards, R. (2016, June). Preliminary assessment of Participedia data archive as an analytic tool. Presentation at Participedia Partners Meeting, Vancouver, BC.

Richards, R. (2013, May). Legal informatics research today : Implications for legal prediction, 3D printing, and eDiscovery. Invited presentation at CICL 2013, the 5th Conference on Innovation and Communications Law, Glen Arbor, MI. (Slides and abstract)

Richards, R. (2011, May). Legislative metadata: What's the point? Invited presentation at OGW 2011: Open Gov West, Portland, OR. (Slides)

Richards, R., & Gastil, J. (2016). Deliberation. In G. Mazzoleni (Ed.), International encyclopedia of political communication. Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons. doi:10.1002/9781118541555.wbiepc115 (Preprint)

Richards, R. (2012) Complementarity, integration, and responsiveness: Making e-Government work in developing nations. Public Administration Review, 72, 160-162. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02514.x (Review of Hanna, N. K. (2010). Transforming government and building the information society: Challenges and opportunities for the developing world. New York: Springer.)

Richards, R. (2010). Review of Cass R. Sunstein, A Constitution of many minds: Why the founding document doesn't mean what it meant before. Law Library Journal, 102, 304-306. (Full text)

Gastil, J., Knobloch, K. R., & Richards, R. (2015). Empowering voters through better information: Analysis of the Citizens’ Initiative Review, 2010-2014: Report prepared for the Democracy Fund. University Park: Pennsylvania State University. (Full text)

Gastil, J., Brinker, D., & Richards, R. (2013). Evaluation and analysis of public discussion and deliberation in the AmericaSpeaks & Face the Facts USA joint civic engagement program for the 2012 presidential campaign. Washington, DC: Democracy Fund. (Full text)

Knobloch, K. R., Gastil, J., Richards, R., & Feller, T. (2012). Evaluation report on the 2012 Citizens’ Initiative Reviews for the Oregon CIR Commission. University Park: Pennsylvania State University. (Full text)

Baldasty, G. J., & Richards, R. (2012). E. W. Scripps. In Oxford Bibliographies Online. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0096.xml

Richards, R. (2009-present). Legal information systems and legal informatics resources. Retrieved from  http://personal.psu.edu/rcr5122/LegalInformationSystemsBibliography.htm

Richards, R. (2009). Cost-effective research in U.S. bankruptcy law. PLL Perspectives, 20(3), 7-10. (Full text)

Richards, R., & Bintliff, B. (2004). Colorado legal resources: An annotated bibliography. Chicago, IL: American Association of Law Libraries. (American Association of Law Libraries occasional papers no. 3-64) (American Association of Law Libraries state documents bibliography no. 3-64) (Bibliographic record)

Richards, R. (Comp.) (1998-2003). A legal publishers' list: Corporate affiliations of legal publishers. Chicago, IL: American Association of Law Libraries. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20110120204327/http://www.aallnet.org/committee/criv/resources/tools/list/index.htm

Gastil, J., & Richards, R. (Eds.) (2013). Symposium: New ideas on public deliberation from young scholars. Journal of Public Deliberation, 9(2), articles 9-14. (Full text and abstracts) 

Kluegel, K. M., & Richards, R. (Eds.) (1998). Towards a new vision of reference: Kaleidoscopic collections and real librarians. Chicago: Reference and User Services Association, American Library Association. (American Library Association Reference and User Services Association Occasional Papers No. 23).

Gastil, J. & Richards, R. (2016). [Title withheld to safeguard reviewing process]. Article under review at a refereed journal.

Gastil, J., Richards, R., Ryan, M., & Smith, G. (2016). [Title withheld to safeguard reviewing process]. Article under review at a refereed journal.

Richards, R. (2016). Government lawyers’ counseling of lawmakers about proposed laws: A goals-plans-action study. Manuscript in preparation.

Richards, R. (2016). Intersubjectively relevant information: A model of information in democratic deliberation. Manuscript in preparation.

Richards, R. (2016). Lawyers making themselves understood: Extending goals-plans-action theory to organizational contexts. Manuscript in preparation.

Richards, R. (2016). Organizational and regional influences on government lawyers’ counseling of lawmakers about proposed laws. Manuscript in preparation.

Richards, R. (2016). Cognitive standards in democratic deliberation: Knowledge-accuracy versus sense-making reasonableness. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). Cognitive structures and intersubjectively relevant information in democratic deliberation. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). The influence of cultural cognition and interest in politics on beliefs about the policy objectives of ballot initiatives. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). Legal information intermediaries: Lawyers, technicians, journalists, bloggers, and algorithms. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). Political hybridity and cultural cognition: A framework based on U.S. evidence. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). Sense-making in democratic deliberation. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2016). The sustainable development goals for governance: The role of civic legal technology. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2014-present). Crowdsourced legislative systems: Evaluating the communication about proposed laws to citizen-participants. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2013-present). The influence of jurors’ beliefs and attitudes about civic life on their post-jury-service civic engagement, as mediated by their jury experience. Research project in progress. 

Richards, R. (2013-present). Technology-driven innovation in policy making and law: The legal hacking movement. Research project in progress.

Richards, R. (2012-present). Empowering the people, extending the state: Free access to law services in India. Research project in progress.

Richards, R. (2011, December). Openness and interoperability: The aims of recent legal informatics activity. Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2011, October). A flurry of innovation: An update on free law. Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2011, July). “A tapestry of data”: Open legislation with The State Decoded. Legal Informatics Blog. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2011, June). Indian Kanoon: Sushant Sinha on innovation and free law in India. Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2011, April). Crowdsourcing lawmaking With LexPop. Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2011, February). Citizen lawmaking and technology: What's new and what's ahead? Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text)

Richards, R. (2010, August 5). What do citizen lawmakers need to know? Slaw.ca: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. (Full text) 

Richards, R. (2009-present). Legal informatics blog: Scholarly and professional commentary on legal information systems and legal communication. 

Richards, R. (2005). Laws of licensing: U.S. computer information licensing under the common law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. (Full text and abstract)

Richards, R. (Founder and Administrator) (2012-present). Legal informatics research network. (Description and access)

Facilitator

Facilitated six undergraduate group deliberations about the U.S. national debt, organized by David Brinker and John Gastil, using briefing materials produced by AmericaSpeaks and Face the Facts USA, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (June 2014).

American Bar Association (ABA)

American Political Science Association (APSA)

International Communication Association (ICA)

Law and Society Association (LSA)

National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)

National Communication Association (NCA)

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)

Participedia.net, Subcommittee on Sustainable Development Goal 16.7

Carroll C. Arnold Award for Scholarly Excellence, Penn State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, April 2016

Dissertation Research Grant, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, February 2014

Graduate Research Fellowship Application Incentive Award, The Pennsylvania State University College of the Liberal Arts, January 2013

Graduate Research Award, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, September 2012

Full funding for graduate study, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, August 2011–present

Full funding for graduate study, University of Washington Department of Communication, September 2010–June 2011 

Robert E. Goldsten Award for Distinction in the Classroom, University of Virginia School of Law, May 2006

Best Brief Award for Legal Research & Writing course, University of Virginia School of Law, May 2004

Academic scholarship, University of Virginia School of Law, August 2003–May 2006

Hazel C. Rediger Award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science, August 1996 

H.D. Stewart Fellowship in Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science, August 1994–August 1995

Graduate Reference Assistantship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Reference Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, August 1994–July 1996

Graduated with honors and with distinction in the English major, Yale University, May 1992  

Ralph D. Paine Memorial Prize for the Best Senior Essay in English, Yale University, May 1992