Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Kai Ou
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): kou@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Social Sciences and Public Policy
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Department of Political Science
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/8251/Ou.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: How Collective Deliberation Affects Democratic Outcomes
Project Keywords: Behavioral Political Economy, Game Theory, Laboratory Experiments
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Political Science Majors, Policy Majors, Business Majors, Economics Majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: Approximately 5 hours
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: During business hours
Overall Research Project Description:
A critical feature of democratic processes is deliberation through representative voices. In the committee context, members often deliberate before voting. On the one hand, collective deliberation facilitates information aggregation and coordinates voting among committee members. In scenarios in which every committee member is sufficiently informed, deliberation may increase the likelihood that the committee collectively chooses the welfare-maximizing policy. On the other hand, collective deliberation affects the committee members’ willingness to be informed in the first place, following a logic of backward induction. Relative to scenarios in which there is no communication, the following hypotheses may hold: First, collective deliberation improves the committee’s likelihood of collectively choosing the welfare-maximizing policy when the average level of information expertise is sufficiently high but undermines this likelihood when most members are uninformed. Second, under unanimity voting where every member can effectively veto, or in scenarios in which there are veto players who can reject the choice of the majority, collective deliberation either undermines or has no effect on the likelihood of choosing the welfare-maximizing policy when at least one veto player is uninformed. However, when all veto players are informed, regardless of the average level of information expertise of non-veto players who cannot veto, collective deliberation improves the committee’s voting outcomes. 

Research Tasks:
Literature review, data collection

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Required: 
Native in English communication, professional in English writing, knowledgeable about American Politics and Policy
Recommended: 
Knowledgeable about game theory and mathematical models, familiar with research designs 

Mentoring Philosophy:
I view mentoring as creative work that keeps mentees’ curiosity alive and turns them from passive receptors to active learners. My primary goal in mentoring is to help mentees develop a systematic approach to analyzing their questions.  I always aim to let mentees acquire something more important: the passion for understanding politics, the ability to examine conventional wisdom, and the creativity to solve puzzles.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://coss.fsu.edu/polisci/faculty/kai-ou/
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2023
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