Abstract
In this article, we critically examine the question of how to link the ‘micro’ of deliberative mini-publics with the ‘macro’ of the democratic system. To explore this puzzle, we relate to EuroPolis, a transnational deliberative experiment that took place one week ahead of the 2009 European Parliamentary elections. The main argument is that although the scientific design of deliberative polls is a necessary condition for the fulfilment of the criteria for equal participation and informed opinion-making of selected citizens (the micro-dimension), this does not necessarily translate into a democratically representative and legitimate proxy for the broader political constituency (the macro-dimension). This problem is potentially exacerbated in deliberative settings that cut across domestic political cultures and nationalized public spheres.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 662-679 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| ISSN | 1369-8230 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2016 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- citizen deliberation
- deliberative polling
- democracy
- legitimacy, science
- European Union