Being creative despite procedural constraints

This article explores the DUCSAI debate case study, i.e. the French public debate about the location of the third international Parisian airport. We show that the added value of mixed deliberative procedures (with both on- and off-line dimensions) rests in simultaneously widening the participant's profile, the nature of their argumentation and their means of expression. The extension of participation modalities has empowered the actors by giving them the opportunity to master the technical constraints of the debate and allowing them to reframe it according to their own preferences. The use of ICT in the context of a mixed deliberative procedure can therefore become a central resource for an expression of "difference" as I. M. Young uses this concept.