Gastil, John. "Adult civic education through the National Issues Forums: Developing democratic habits and dispositions through public deliberation." Adult education quarterly 54.4 (2004): 308-328.

This study explores the impact of civic education through a social cognitive model of political participation, examining connections among deliberative education, civic dispositions, and political conversations. Two field studies of National Issues Forums participants tested the model, revealing that deliberative civic education negatively correlated with group efficacy and conversation dominance, while positively influencing the diversity of participants' conversation networks. The second study found positive associations between civic dispositions and more engaged forum experiences. These results highlight the potential of deliberative forums for civic education but also indicate variability in their educational effectiveness.