His experiences in Quaker meetings sparked his interest in how people work within groups to make decisions, reach a consensus at certain times, and defend their positions through reason and evidence.
[3][non-primary source needed] Some of his later research examined the jury, one of the most important venues through which ordinary citizens can deliberate and make consequential decisions.
Gastil shows the effects on jury members’ civic attitudes, views about legal institutions, opinions about deliberation, and subsequent participation in politics.
[4][non-primary source needed] The Jury and Democracy won the 2011 Ernest Bormann Research Award from the National Communication Association.
[6] In his book By Popular Demand, he proposed creating panels of citizens, chosen randomly to ensure a cross-section of society, to deliberate on ballot initiatives and referendums.
Similar policies have now been adopted by a handful of other states, and Gastil’s research on Oregon’s CIR has been cited repeatedly in both academic journals[8] and the news media.