3 - Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation As Embodiment

Summary

Amidst increased dissatisfaction with representative democracies new forms of direct political participation by ordinary citizens are becoming increasingly popular. There has been a proliferation of proposals for inserting deliberative minipublics such as citizens’ assemblies, citizens juries or deliberative polls in the political process. Indeed, many democratic theorists see these mechanisms as the best hope for overcoming the many representational “gaps” that afflict traditional party systems – gaps that have produced alarming levels of citizens’ apathy and disenchantment with democracy.¹ However, despite the interest that these new forms of citizen involvement have garnered there has been little analysis of the specific nature of political representation that they involve.² In which sense are citizens who participate in minipublics supposed to be representatives of the rest of the citizenry? Can they act both as citizens in their own right and as representatives of non-participants at the same time?