Public lecture “Countering Threats to Democracy with Deliberative Mini-Publics? Promises and Potential Pitfalls”  

📍 Lossi 36-305 

The lecture is held in English.

Anyone interested is welcome. 

There is an increasing perception that democracy is under external and internal threat. Deliberative mini-publics (also known as citizens’ assemblies, citizens’ juries, or deliberative polls), in which a randomly selected group of citizens come together to deliberate on policy issues, are increasingly seen as a promising response that could help to ground political debates in fact, develop innovative policy solutions, and reinvigorate support for democracy. Governments around the world increasingly commission mini-publics on topics ranging from abortion over climate change to gender equality, prompting talk of a “deliberative wave”.

However, we are yet to fully understand the potential benefits associated with mini-publics and how they can be integrated into existing democratic institutions. In this talk, I will briefly review the case for mini-publics and discuss my recent research into one of mini-publics’ most significant potential benefits: their ability to improve perceptions of democratic legitimacy. Consistent with previous research, I find that holding mini-publics may increase perceptions of democratic legitimacy. However, I also find that improvements in democratic legitimacy are tied to conditions, including that mini-publics’ policy recommendations are taken seriously and implemented; and that mini-publics are representative of the wider population. I consider why both implementation of mini-public recommendations and statistical representativeness can be difficult to achieve in practice, and sketch a future research agenda.  

The lecture will be given by Micha Germann, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, University of Bath (UK). He specializes in Conflict Research and Political Behavior, with a focus on ethnic conflict, democratic innovations, and quantitative methods. On the topic of mini-publics, he is particularly interested in how they are perceived by the wider public, challenges related to recruitment, and the potential of mini-publics in ethnically divided societies.

This lecture is moderated by Professor Eva Piirimäe (Professor of Political Theory, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies).

In case of questions, please contact Kristel Vits (kristel.vits@ut.ee), Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies.

Estonian Doctoral School for Social Sciences.