Abstract:
Numerous experiences around the world have proven the ability of deliberative minipublics
to contribute to the making of consensus among the various political parties
concerned with the mechanism of constitutional amendments. This paper tries to shed light
on the ability of deliberative democracy to add a qualitative and legitimate contribution to the
constitutional amendment process, mainly based on Ireland's rich experience in establishing
deliberative mini-publics. On the other hand, many liberal representative systems have fallen
into the trap of hateful populist movements, which have resorted to modifying the normative
and ethical mechanisms of constitutional amendments in order to extend their control over
the entire reins of government. This paper portrays the deliberative mini-publics, a recent
innovation in deliberative democracies, as a roadmap for constitutional reforms and a means
by which to minimize the furnace of populism.