Analysis of Online Deliberation on the Decidim Platform: The Case of Barcelona's Participatory Budgeting 2024-2027.

The Participatory Budgeting (PB) of the city of Barcelona (2024–2027) is conducted in a hybrid format, combining online and face-to-face methods. These two formats complement each other, with each being utilized for specific aspects of the process. In this blended participation’s context, neighbourhood assemblies are held in person, while the Decidim platform serves as the digital space for submitting and debating the proposals. Within this digital sphere, a space for deliberation is created, allowing participants to give their opinions regarding the proposals. What characterizes the online deliberation conducted through the Decidim platform for Barcelona's PB? To answer this question, we propose an analysis of the more than 2,000 comments made by participants, using the Deliberative Quality Index (DQI) for the empirical analysis of deliberation.