Deliberation in Democracy’s Dark Times

Abstract

This piece reflects on the on the legacies of democratic deliberation, particularly mini-publics in responding to issues of disinformation, bigotry and nativism that has entered the political mainstream today. It aims to provoke conversations about the limitations of mini-publics in promoting democratic renewal and reconsider the functions of these forums in democracy's 'dark times.'

Deliberative Mini-Publics as a Democratic Alternative: The Normative Desirability, Technical Feasibility, and Political Viability of Sortition

“…Other scholars nevertheless argue that a very wide opening can lead to vague and abstract deliberations (Michels & Binema 2018) or a "wish list" outcome (Oleart 2023). For several authors, the key here is to establish a meaningful connection between the micro-deliberation of these spaces and the macro-deliberation of the public sphere (Beauvis 2018;Curato & Parry 2018). This can include ensuring that deliberations address social conflicts and dilemmas (Oleart 2023), increasing public support for mini-publics through collaboration with activists (Felicetti & della Porta 2019), or subjecting the results of mini-publics to public scrutiny to generalize their bounded validity (Olsen & Trenz 2014).…”