Varieties of Citizen Engagement? The Institutional Design of Deliberative Innovations in Europe in Comparative Perspective

Date

2025-01-01

Author

Moniz, João
Falanga, Roberto
Medeıros Rıbeıro, Jose Duarte

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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This study examines the institutional characteristics of deliberative mini-publics across various European democracies, utilising Lijphart’s, A. (2012. Patterns of democracy: Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries (2nd ed.). Yale University Press) framework distinguishing majoritarian and consensus systems. Through a comprehensive dataset of deliberative mini-publics, the research explores the interplay between institutional design features and broader democratic contexts. The findings reveal unexpected patterns: while more consensual democracies are expected to promote inclusivity and intensity in citizen engagement, evidence indicates that systems with majoritarian characteristics often exhibit more pronounced forms of participation and decision-making. This paradox suggests that centralised decision-making in majoritarian democracies may compel political elites to seek alternative channels of legitimacy through citizen involvement, particularly when traditional governance mechanisms appear inadequate. Furthermore, the study highlights the significance of elite preferences and institutional supply in shaping deliberative mini-publics, challenging the assumption that consensus democracies inherently facilitate more robust participatory processes. Overall, this research contributes to the cross-country comparative literature on deliberative mini-publics, offering insights into the complex dynamics between political systems and participatory governance mechanisms.

Subject Keywords

comparative politics, deliberative mini-publics, Democracy, democratic innovations, Europe

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https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105010707288&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116914

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Department of Sociology, Article