Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Procedures: The origins of the first permanent citizens’ assembly

Macq, Hadrien; Jacquet, Vincent

doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12499

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Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Procedures: The origins of the first permanent citizens’ assembly

Macq, Hadrien; Jacquet, Vincent

2023 • In European Journal of Political Research

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/265556

DOI
10.1111/1475-6765.12499

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Keywords :

citizens' assemblies; participatory and deliberative procedures; democratic innovations; participatory governance; political leaders

Abstract :

[en] In the context of public disaffection towards representative democracies, political leaders are increasinglyestablishing citizens’ assemblies to foster participatory governance. These deliberative fora composed of randomlyselected citizens have attracted much scholarly attention regarding their theoretical foundations and internalfunctioning. Nevertheless, we lack research that scrutinizes the reasons why political leaders create such newinstitutions. This article fills this gap by analysing a specific case: the first permanent randomly selected citizens’assembly that will work in collaboration with a parliament in the long-term (Ostbelgien, Belgium). This case isanalysed through a framework that pays close attention to the context in which it developed, the profiles of politicalelites that supported its creation, as well as the multiple objectives it was vested with. The findings reveal thatinitiators of citizens’ assemblies fundamentally conceive them as a way to strengthen a polity’s identity, to savethe electoral model of democracy, and to restore the legitimacy of traditional political leaders. Our analysis of thisparticular conception lead us to argue for the need of developing context-sentive approaches to participatory anddeliberative procedures, as well as to discuss whether we should consider the latter as mere elites’ legitimation tools.

Research Center/Unit :

Cité - ULiège
SPIRAL

Disciplines :

Political science, public administration & international relations

Author, co-author :

Macq, Hadrien ; Technical University of Munich > Department of Science, Technology and Society > Innovation Research Group

Jacquet, Vincent; Université de Namur - UNamur

Language :

English

Title :

Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Procedures: The origins of the first permanent citizens’ assembly

Publication date :

2023

Journal title :

European Journal of Political Research

ISSN :

0304-4130

eISSN :

1475-6765

Publisher :

Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
COST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology

Available on ORBi :

since 29 November 2021

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