Abstract
The 2018 Citizens’ Assembly on the 8th Amendment of the Constitution instigated an important process for public participation and deliberation about the legal status of abortion in the Republic of Ireland. Examining the processes of the 2018 Citizens’ Assembly, I argue that it was consistent with democratic deliberations as discrete initiatives that function alongside other deliberative processes. I identify and examine some limitations of Citizen Assembly processes, including the tendency to favour monologue over dialogue, the construction of ‘objective’ reason over the possibility of emotion in deliberations, and processes of exclusion that limited understandings and applications of Iris Marion Young’s idea about social justice. Their implications were identified as limitations in public engagement and political decision making in the Republic of Ireland in a 2017 Council of Europe fact-finding report. In future, acknowledging and addressing these limitations could enhance the use of Citizens’ Assemblies and their relationship to other systemic processes to consider constitutional change.
Highlights
In a referendum on May 25, 2018, a two-thirds majority of Irish citizens voted to repeal and replace Article 40.3.3, known as the 8th Amendment, with legislation and clinical guidance
I recognise its relationship to other deliberative processes, including the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the 8th Amendment, as well as its relationship to democratic values, inclusion and social justice and in ways that are supportive of a system approach (Mansbridge et al, 2012)
The Citizens’ Assembly on the 8th Amendment, embedded in a system that was connected to other deliberative processes, did not have ‘the capacity to meaningfully challenge the existing power structure of Ireland’s political landscape’ (Dražkiewicz-Grodzicka and Ní Mhordha, 2019: 96, 97), including the ability to substantially alter the relationship between Irish publics and the state’s legislative decision-makers
Summary
In a referendum on May 25, 2018, a two-thirds majority of Irish citizens voted to repeal and replace Article 40.3.3, known as the 8th Amendment, with legislation and clinical guidance. I recognise its relationship to other deliberative processes, including the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the 8th Amendment, as well as its relationship to democratic values, inclusion and social justice and in ways that are supportive of a system approach (Mansbridge et al, 2012).
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