The Consequences of Deliberative Minipublics: Systematic Overview, Conceptual Gaps, and New Directions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Minipublics count among the most celebrated democratic innovations. Scholars have extensively analysed the design and the internal dynamics of such forums that gather randomly selected citizens to discuss political issues. However, we still lack an understanding of how these innovations might influence the wider political system. This article introduces a new database (MINICON) covering 35 years of research on minipublics’ consequences (1984–2018). Our findings suggest that most work has adopted a narrow view on these consequences, focusing on what happens within the direct proximity of a minipublic. We argue that future research needs to examine minipublics’ more distant consequences if we are to assess their contributions to the functioning of mass democracies.