Beyond citizens' assemblies: expanding the repertoire of democratic reform
Beyond citizens' assemblies: expanding the repertoire of democratic reform
There is broad support for democratizing the policy process by better connecting mass publics and governing elites. In policy terms, these efforts have become closely associated with deliberative mini-publics, especially CAs (CA). The wisdom accumulated on these novel practices is impressive, but also highlights important limitations. Drawing on recent developments in deliberative theory and our own empirical work on other democratic practices, we suggest expanding the repertoire of democratic reform beyond the current focus of "designing" one-off novel deliberative forums to thinking more systemically about ways to "mend" the fabric of democracy. Democratic mending involves strengthening and sustaining democratic connections between people and the processes and institutions that govern them. We argue that mending is a vital component both of better integrating forums like CAs into their political and administrative context, and, more radically, for expanding the repertoire of practices for democratic reform in contemporary governance.
CAs, Deliberative mini-publics, Deliberative systems, Democratic mending, Design thinking, Innovative governance, Pragmatic experimentalism, Public policy, Public sphere, Representative government
85-96
Boswell, John
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Hendriks, Carolyn M.
32fd452a-74d4-4600-8b72-db46637c249f
Ercan, Selen A.
22ae08a9-e6dd-4fdf-aeba-a980d53d945b
31 May 2023
Boswell, John
34bad0df-3d4d-40ce-948f-65871e3d783c
Hendriks, Carolyn M.
32fd452a-74d4-4600-8b72-db46637c249f
Ercan, Selen A.
22ae08a9-e6dd-4fdf-aeba-a980d53d945b
Boswell, John, Hendriks, Carolyn M. and Ercan, Selen A.
(2023)
Beyond citizens' assemblies: expanding the repertoire of democratic reform.
In,
Reuchamps, Min, Vrydagh, Julien and Welp, Yanina
(eds.)
De Gruyter Handbook of Citizens' Assemblies.
(Citizens’ Assemblies and Mini-Publics, 1)
De Gruyter, .
(doi:10.1515/9783110758269-009).
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Book Section
Abstract
There is broad support for democratizing the policy process by better connecting mass publics and governing elites. In policy terms, these efforts have become closely associated with deliberative mini-publics, especially CAs (CA). The wisdom accumulated on these novel practices is impressive, but also highlights important limitations. Drawing on recent developments in deliberative theory and our own empirical work on other democratic practices, we suggest expanding the repertoire of democratic reform beyond the current focus of "designing" one-off novel deliberative forums to thinking more systemically about ways to "mend" the fabric of democracy. Democratic mending involves strengthening and sustaining democratic connections between people and the processes and institutions that govern them. We argue that mending is a vital component both of better integrating forums like CAs into their political and administrative context, and, more radically, for expanding the repertoire of practices for democratic reform in contemporary governance.
Text
10.1515_9783110758269-009
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More information
Published date: 31 May 2023
Keywords:
CAs, Deliberative mini-publics, Deliberative systems, Democratic mending, Design thinking, Innovative governance, Pragmatic experimentalism, Public policy, Public sphere, Representative government
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481231
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481231
ISSN: 2751-3505
PURE UUID: 58e18a4e-587c-4d5c-bd5d-e8be311ef555
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Date deposited: 21 Aug 2023 16:32
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:52
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Contributors
Author:
Carolyn M. Hendriks
Author:
Selen A. Ercan
Editor:
Min Reuchamps
Editor:
Julien Vrydagh
Editor:
Yanina Welp
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