Deliberative Mini-Publics: A Recent Innovation in Deliberative Democracies

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.