Work

Deliberately under control? When randomly selected EU citizens discuss the institutionalization of a future EU-wide mini-public

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In this paper, we explore the evolution of the proposal of a permanent European mini-public, initially expressed within the framework of Citizens’ Panels during the first phase of the Conference on the Future of Europe (2021‐2022). We investigate how randomly selected citizens recommended the establishment of such a mini-public, and how this proposal was likely to be altered and implemented by EU institutional representatives and specifically by the European Commission. On a theoretical level, we discuss scholarship suggesting that citizen deliberation procedures are overall under the control of institutional promoters. We demonstrate exactly how the randomly selected citizens’ call for a permanent mini-public has been altered to preserve the balance of power at the EU level and to safeguard the Commission’s monopoly on legislative initiative.

Source: Journal of Sortition

DOI: 10.53765/3050-0672.1.2.257

Author: Jessy Bailly

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sciences Po Aix, Centre Méditerranéen de Sociologie, de Science Politique et d'Histoire, Institut catholique de paris

Language: English

Topic: Political Theory and Democracy

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4415909533

FWCI:

Cites: 4

Cited by:

Related to: 10