Abstract

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.

Deliberative minipublics are increasingly used in practice, often in response to widespread political disenchantment. Yet, it remains unclear whether these advisory tools appeal to citizens who are discontent with present-day politics. After all, their current design entails that minipublics complement –rather than circumvent– the existing representative system. Using survey data from Belgium (n=5901), we find that public support for advisory minipublics is fairly high on average, yet more outspoken among discontent citizens. A follow-up study (n=1748), reveals that both discontent and content people want minipublics’ recommendations to be taken up in the political realm. Yet, they seem rather undecided on whether these should prevail over government plans, democratic norms or public opinion. Overall, this paper adds to a better understanding of whether and when advisory minipublics are supported by those citizens whom these novel tools are often expected to get back on board of democratic decision-making. 

Keywords

Deliberative minipublics, Dissatisfaction with democracy, Political decision-making