THE DANGERS OF INSTITUTIONALIZING DELIBERATIVE MINI-PUBLICS AS TOOLS OF DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY

UN BREVE Y NOCIONAL ACERCAMIENTO A LA ASAMBLEA DE CIUDADANOS DE IRLANDA

Abstract

We introduce the topic to briefly explain our objective. This will be none other than to reach the end of this journey while trying to justify whether the so-called citizen assemblies and deliberative mini-publics are in danger of being institutionalized or, in simpler terms, being absorbed by institutions, turning into a sort of institutional mechanism prior to any deliberation and political decision. They cease to be, as we know them, the independent gathering of a random sample of citizens called to discuss a specific topic, representing the best possible inclusive deliberation, both in form and in their impact on the socio-institutional reality where they take place.

To reach that point, we have, methodologically, a roadmap that many will surely notice, and we will try to mention it here as briefly as possible. We begin by discussing the reality of the significant weakening of traditional voting in political representation, then we address the "electoral extortions" that we can see, for example, in the so-called "exit plebiscites"; these topics will lead us, by decantation, to present and discuss the visualization, or not, of deliberative mini-publics as a very powerful tool to enhance the existing and current tools of citizen participation and representation.

Our work will ultimately focus on the citizen assemblies that took place during the second decade of this 21st century in Ireland on issues of great social, legal, and constitutional importance such as marriage equality, abortion, gender equality, and the environment. We will seek to conclude, after developing the established itinerary, that citizen assemblies should be the direct transmission of public opinions to the political class and not, as we outlined at the beginning, just another tool of the existing institutional framework.