Deliberative Democracy in Ireland

Question 1

Describe the deliberative turn of democracy.

Answer 1

• John Dryzek (2000): 1990s saw the theory of democracy take a strong deliberative turn
• Normative argument, shift from democracy entailing aggregation of preferences (via the vote) to collective decisions emerging from public reasoned discussion and debate
• Recent emergence of a new (‘third-generation’) of deliberative research = putting deliberative theory into practice
• Deliberative mini publics (DMPs)
  Random selection of ordinary citizens
  Reasoned, informed, reflective discussion

Question 2

What are the main characteristics of DMPs ?

Answer 2

• Random selection that mirrors society (no ‘mandate’)
• Inclusive process (experts are experts not members, interest groups and advocates)
• Deliberation (facilitated small-table discussions)

Question 3

What was the convention on the constitution of 2012-2014 like ?

Answer 3

• 99 members (66 citizens and 33 politicians)
• Agenda (Marriage equality; blasphemy; role of women; electoral reform; parliamentary reform, voting age; votes abroad…)
• Outcome (43 recommendations presented to Parliament)

Question 4

What was the convention on the constitution of 2016-2018 like ?

Answer 4

• 99 citizen members
• Agenda (Abortion; climate change; ageing population; fixed term parliaments….)
• Outcome = 44 recommendations presented to Parliament

Question 5

What was the Citizen’s Assembly on Gender Equality like ?

Answer 5

• 99 citizen members
• Agenda (Gender equality)
• Outcome = 45 recommendations presented to Parliament

Question 6

What was the Citizens’ Assemblies on Biodiversity Loss and Dublin (mayor and local government) of 2022-2023 like ?

Answer 6

Run in parallel
- Same location
- Same secretariat but separate chairs and expert advisory groups

Biodiversity
- Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin
- 99 citizen members

Dublin
- Jim Gavin
- 67 citizen members
- 12 politicians (councillors)

Question 7

What was the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use like ?

Answer 7

• 99 citizen members
• Agenda = Drugs Use
• Outcome = 36 recommendations presented to Parliament

Question 8

What are the political impact of Ireland’s DMPs ?

Answer 8

• Four referendums (Marriage equality, 2015, Presidential Age, 2015, Abortion, 2018, Blasphemy, 2018)
• Other referendums promised (role of women, voting age, votes for Irish citizens outside the state)
• Dáil reforms in 2016
• Dáil declared a ‘climate emergency’ in 2019

Question 9

What are the most prominent criticism of DMPs ?

Answer 9

• Top-down: government controls agenda and determines outcome
• Weaknesses in its operation (e.g. high turnover of members)
• Will this all run out of steam?
• Is it generalizable?

Question 10

How does Ireland compare to other states concerning deliberative democracy ?

Answer 10

Ireland has been at the forefront of European democratic innovation - its combined use of referendums (direct democracy) and citizens’ assemblies (deliberative democracy) is novel and provides valuable insights into the political and social evolution of Ireland.

Direct democracy was designed into the political architecture of the state from independence, but referendums were rarely used until late in the twentieth century as modernization of the state and its social mores, internationalization and political innovation provided the impetus for their greater use. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 11

How did Ireland’s deliberative turn emerge ?

Answer 11

The country’s deliberative turn emerged out of the deep economic crisis and period of political turmoil caused by the great recession that started in 2008.

This extra strand of citizen participation was envisaged as a way to give citizens a voice in democratic politics between elections rather than merely having an opportunity to ‘kick the rascals out’ every five years. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 12

Discuss the first national citizens’ assembly.

Answer 12

The first national citizens’ assembly (also known as a mini-public), the Constitutional Convention, was established in 2012 led to referendums to remove a constitutional blasphemy provision and to permit same-sex marriage, as well as other policy changes. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 13

How did national citizens’ assemblies become more common ?

Answer 13

The addition of a deliberative strand to Irish democracy was deemed a success and citizens’ assemblies became more commonplace as the decade progressed. Ireland is now considered to be at the vanguard of deliberative innovations, particularly for citizens’ assemblies.

And deliberative democracy has been connected to direct democracy with citizens’ assemblies preceding referendum votes on some of the most notable referendum issues of the last decade. Irish democracy is evolving with inclusion of the deliberative or ‘talk-centred’ strand. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

The Irish experience underscores the integration of deliberative democracy with direct democracy through mini-publics and referendums. This approach aligns with broader debates on enhancing deliberation within political systems and highlights the potential for replicating successful deliberative processes on future issues. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 14

Why include elements of deliberative democracy to the Irish system ?

Answer 14

Move to include elements of deliberative democracy in the Irish system as an extension of consensual democracy - seeks to represent the views of citizens above a narrow plurality through, for example, proportional voting systems. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 15

What are those deliberative processes ?

Answer 15

Deliberation and participation are emerging as a distinct trend in terms of modern constitutional design practices.

1. citizens’ juries
2. assemblies
3. deliberative polls (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 16

What is the goal of deliberative processes ?

Answer 16

To cross-fertilize ideas across different actors from citizens to political elites – said to be a form of designed coupling, linking the deliberative and representative systems.

Their primary purpose is to broaden democratic practices and deepen citizens’ engagement in decision-making by investing in competent and reflective participation. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 17

What are the core attributes of deliberative democracy ?

Answer 17

1. Citizens’ assemblies or mini publics should be deliberative so that decisions can be reached after justified argumentation among participants
2. They are expected to constitute a ‘representative subset of the whole population’ (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 18

What are some common arguments against deliberative processes of democracy ?

Answer 18

1. Concerns around the potential for public-will manipulation and argues that mini-publics, by definition, cannot be representative
2. Questions the legitimacy grounds for supposing that the outputs reflect the wishes or concerns of the mass public.

In Ireland, at least in the case of the abortion referendum, the vote at the assembly closely mirrored that of the public in the subsequent referendum. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 19

What do some scholars claim about deliberative democracy and legitimacy ?

Answer 19

According to some scholars, deliberative democracy can only contribute to the legitimacy of the policy system IF it reflects legitimacy within its own internal workings. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 20

What are the core features of citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 20

1. They are deliberative: participants reach their conclusions or recommendations after receiving information and engaging in a careful and open discussion about the issue or issues before them.
2. They are mini publics: the members constitute, so far as possible, a representative subset of the wider population. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 21

How are citizens’ assemblies different from other processes ?

Answer 21

The selection is random.

Established by the Irish government, the Citizens’ Assembly comprised 99 citizens randomly selected by a market research company, RED C, along with an independent chair. It was tasked with considering five items, including abortion, ageing population, fixed-term parliaments, referendum processes, and climate change. (Farrell et al., 2018)

1. Designed to ensure that the citizens in the room are representative of the wider public
2. Reinforces the concept of equality as everyone in the population should have an equal chance of being invited – should be more representative of the population than traditional representative institutions.
3. Can be bottom-up (meaning advocated and organized by pressure groups, civil society and so on) or top-down (emanating from the government) or a combination. - In Ireland, citizens’ assemblies are a top-down affair – proposed by cabinet and passed by legislation in the Oireachtas. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 22

How do citizens’ assemblies end ?

Answer 22

Crucially, at the end of a process the assembly will produce a report and make a recommendation or series of recommendations.

It is important that this is considered in a real way by the commissioning body, particularly if it is a top-down process with decision-making power.

In Ireland - reports were placed before a special Joint Oireachtas Committee = most likely to result in substantial policy impact. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 23

How did Ireland come to include deliberative processes to its political structures ?

Answer 23

1. Political crisis that arose from the great recession in 2008, when the government lost much fiscal policy-making power with the arrival of the Troika (IMF, World Bank and European Central Bank) into Dublin.
2. Substantial changes to the party system, with the 2011 election recording extreme inter-party volatility - Fianna Fáil’s drop-in support was one of the largest recorded among parliamentary democracies.
3. Major institutions were also under increasing scrutiny, including the Catholic church, the banking system, and the civil service.
4. Thus, Fine Gael and Labour entered government on promises to radically reform how politics operated in Ireland – a key input was an experimental citizens’ assembly, potential to implement a form of deliberative democracy.
5. That assembly or Constitutional Convention called for a referendum to permit same-sex marriage that was then put to the people on 22 May 2015 and was passed with a majority of 62 per cent of the vote – critical success by the Fine Gael–Labour coalition government = laid the foundation for future citizens’ assemblies (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 24

Why is this origin of deliberative democracy in Ireland notable ?

Answer 24

1. The institutionalisation of the process and its links to the broader representative system
2. The evolution of the topics and agenda items from a largely constitutional focus initially to a wider more policy-related focus
3. The evolution in internal operating procedures to increase internal legitimacy (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 25

How does Ireland link representative and deliberative democracy ?

Answer 25

Links to the representative system are strong and demonstrate notable ‘coupling’.

Despite worries that politicians would dominate the discussion, no evidence was found that this was the case. It was also clear that the participating politicians highly regarded the convention and its processes. This was undoubtedly a factor in the decision to repeat the process during the next governmental cycle.

Later iterations of the convention or citizens’ assemblies did not include politicians as members until the 2022 deliberation on a Dublin mayor.

Rather, when the government considered the issue important, it established an all-party committee to consider the report of the deliberative process. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 26

Why do Irish politicians consider deliberative democracy to be important ?

Answer 26

Because they are useful, in that they;

1. At the time of the first convention, the government had limited control over fiscal policy, with the Troika involved in most key decisions = a way to build connections with citizens in domains unrelated to fiscal policy such as constitutional reform
2. The assembly was useful in terms of managing inter-party coalition differences. Labour, for example, declared marriage equality the citizens’ rights issue of a generation but there was at best tepid and varied support within Fine Gael at the time, so the citizens’ assembly provided a forum for further consideration of the issue.
3. Third, it was useful in terms of intra-party differences, as the Fine Gael membership included a more conservative older rural element and a more urban progressive membership. Asking the citizens’ assembly to look at the issue was a way to ascertain the thoughtful position of the people, which some hoped would allow the issues to be discussed in a more balanced way.
4. Useful way to ‘park’ certain matters that were unlikely to be resolved in coalition negotiations.
5. The process was an exercise in public will formation. It assisted legislators with the development of specific constitutional and policy proposals that were likely to attract wide public support and allowed this work to happen outside the highly contested political arena. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 27

What did “Constitution Day” proposal and coalition bargaining provoke in Irish politics ?

Answer 27

Thus, the question that the government put to the Convention arose from a combination of Enda Kenny’s ‘Constitution Day’ proposal and coalition bargaining. – this success is viewed as a space where parties could place issues to give them the opportunity and the breathing space to focus on other policy priorities such as the economy, the financial crisis and homelessness, for example. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 28

How did these hybrid representative and deliberative processes affect policy ?

Answer 28

The proposals emanating from the convention and assembly processes have also had a mixed success rate in terms of ultimate implementation into policy.

They note that of 28 discrete recommendations, only three resulted in constitutional amendment. However, this statistic masks a number of different factors - all the moral/social referendum recommendations received were acted on and passed (same-sex marriage, abortion, blasphemy). Referendums have been promised on several other recommendations: lowering the voting age, and votes in presidential elections for citizens outside the state. These have yet to be actioned.

The political reform proposals were largely focused on addressing the long-identified weaknesses of parliament with a focus on enhancing the role of the Ceann Comhairle, reform of Dáil committees, more free votes and pre-legislative scrutiny, among other measures. - most of these did not require constitutional change and many were implemented through changes to the standing orders of the Oireachtas. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 29

How does the government treat the citizens’ proposals ?

Answer 29

The government largely responded to topics it had proposed and rejected those that came at the initiative of the citizens, under the banner of economic, social and cultural rights.

One of the contributions of a deliberative mini public was to highlight the potential divergence of public and elite opinion on constitutional reform; the citizens may be keener than the political elite to opt for a maximalist constitution including many economic rights.

The government resists citizen efforts to set the agenda and seems to be in favour of retaining sole agenda-setting authority. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Indeed, concerns were raised about the government’s follow-through on Assembly recommendations. While swift action was taken on issues like abortion, responses to other topics were lacking. This raised questions about the government’s commitment to addressing all Assembly recommendations promptly. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 30

How did the hybrid model evolve against public will manipulation by elites ?

Answer 30

Since 2011, each government has embraced citizens’ assemblies and they have been included in political party manifestos and each of the programmes for government.

The initial focus connected citizen deliberation to the referendum process and constitutional change, to which we turn in the next section, but assemblies have developed a much broader focus covering a wide range of policy areas.

The ‘Irish model’ of citizens’ assemblies are therefore the subject of global interest. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 31

Discuss pre-referendum deliberative phases.

Answer 31

Ireland’s linking of some citizens’ assemblies with referendums is a notable example of including a pre-referendum deliberation phase.
Referendum campaigns are often fraught political moments and have been critiqued for lacking deliberative quality, but research has found that integrating a deliberative structure into the pre-referendum phase of a campaign can address some of the critiques of referendums and can deliver systematic improvements in outcomes such as an alignment between values and vote.

It:

1. can improve the information environment for voters
2. enhance both subjective and objective knowledge

Satisfaction with the performance of citizens’ assemblies has become variable. For example, the constitutional convention was tasked with reviewing the ‘women in the home’ clause (Article 41.2). (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 32

Give an example of this pre-referendum deliberative phase.

Answer 32

In advance of the meeting of the convention, the expectation was that the clause would be deleted but the end result of the deliberations was a recommendation to change the clause and include a gender-neutral text that emphasized the societal value of those engaged in ‘caring work’.

Subsequently, then Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan announced a plan to merely delete the clause. But following warnings from the National Women’s Council of Ireland that it would campaign against this proposal; it was quietly dropped.

The issue was placed on the agenda of a later citizens’ assembly with a sole focus on gender equality. That assembly also suggested to replace the wording rather than delete the clause. A series of additional recommendations around the working conditions of careers were also provided. The coalition government announced on International Women’s Day 2023 that it would accept the recommendation of the assembly and draft wording for a referendum to replace Article 41.2 by summer 2023 with a view to holding a referendum in November 2023.

Thus, citizens’ assemblies have demonstrated that they are not ‘creatures’ of the political elites but do return decisions that reflect their own internal preferences and dynamics. (Reidy and Suiter, 2023)

Question 33

What are the origins of citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 33

The text explains that the Irish mini-publics originated in response to the economic crisis of 2008-09 and a perceived failure of major institutions. It states, “The origins of Ireland’s mini-publics lie in the onset of the Great Recession in 2008–9.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 34

Discuss struggles of membership recruitment.

Answer 34

The text discusses challenges with membership recruitment, turnover, and low turnout. It states, “A significant feature of the first two Irish processes was the large turnover in membership, requiring repeated rounds of recruitment to fill the gaps.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Membership Turnover and Turnout Challenges: The Assembly faced challenges related to membership turnover and turnout. Despite recruiting 152 members over 15 months, initial and final meeting attendance was lower than expected, possibly influenced by the absence of financial incentives for members. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 35

How is the quality of deliberation in these citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 35

The text highlights high levels of satisfaction with the deliberative process among members. It states, “To assess overall measures of satisfaction with the process as a whole, a number of questions were added to the final survey on the last weekend meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Surveys conducted after each meeting indicated high levels of satisfaction among members regarding the quality of facilitation and discussions. The process ensured equal participation, respectful dialogue, and diverse viewpoints, particularly evident during deliberations on contentious issues like abortion.

Interviews with Assembly members highlighted their satisfaction with the neutral environment and respectful exchange of opinions. Despite intense discussions, disagreements did not escalate into conflicts, fostering an environment conducive to deliberation. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 36

What are the operational implications of Irish citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 36

The text discusses operational similarities among Irish mini-publics, including venue arrangements and facilitation methods. It states, “The practice is for meetings to occur roughly once a month, lasting for most of the weekend.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

The Assembly allocated varying durations for discussing different topics, with abortion receiving the most extensive time—nine and a half days—reflecting its complexity and public interest. This allocation also reflected budgetary constraints and political priorities, as evidenced by the higher number of public submissions on abortion compared to other topics. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 37

Discuss the concern of representation in citizens’ assemblies.

Answer 37

The text discusses concerns about the representativeness of the sample, especially regarding socio-economic cohorts and regions. It states, “There were also issues relating to the representativeness of the sample, which to a large degree were compounded by the regular need to recruit new members.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 38

What is the agenda and scope of citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 38

The text discusses the agenda and scope of Irish processes, mentioning a wide range of topics including electoral reform, marriage equality, and parliamentary reform. It states, “The Convention was tasked with considering eight specific issues.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 39

How do scholars qualify the inclusion of politicians to these assemblies ?

Answer 39

The text highlights the inclusion of politicians in the Irish mini-publics as an important innovation. It states, “The decision that politicians would be included as members of the Convention was an important innovation.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 40

Discuss public involvement in citizens’ assemblies.

Answer 40

The text mentions public involvement in Irish processes, reflecting international pressures and public interest. It states, “The Irish government is under intense international pressure to take more radical action on climate change.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

The selection of topics for the Citizens’ Assembly was influenced by various factors, including commitments made by political parties in their manifestos, international pressures, and coalition negotiations. For instance, the urgency to address climate change and abortion issues stemmed from both international pressures and domestic political considerations. (Farrell et al., 2018)

Question 41

What are the impacts of these citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 41

The text highlights the impact of Irish mini-publics on policy outcomes, including successful referendums on marriage equality and abortion. It mentions, “The two Irish cases that have completed their work contributed to successful outcomes, most notably the passing of the 2015 marriage equality referendum and the 2018 blasphemy referendum, both following the Constitutional Convention, and the passing of the 2018 abortion referendum, following the Citizens’ Assembly.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 42

How does Ireland go about involving its population in constitutional change ?

Answer 42

The text mentions a deliberative approach to constitutional reform in Ireland, involving citizens directly in the process. It states, “Some critics judged the Convention’s agenda to be too narrow. Others questioned whether the proposed model of deliberative democracy, involving randomly selected citizens and politicians, would work.”

The text discusses specific Irish cases, including the Constitutional Convention, Citizens’ Assembly, and Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality. It mentions, “Ireland has now added a further three to the list: the Irish Constitutional Convention of 2012–14, the Irish Citizens’ Assembly of 2016–18, and most recently the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality that was established in early 2020.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 43

What sort of framework is used to analyze these citizens’ assemblies ?

Answer 43

The Suiter and Reuchamps framework is employed to analyze the democratic legitimacy of Irish mini-publics in terms of input, throughput, and output. The text states, “For the subsequent three sections, we employ the Suiter and Reuchamps (2016) framework to analyse their democratic legitimacy.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 44

How does the text consider that these assemblies interact with Ireland’s representative democracy ?

Answer 44

The text suggests that deliberative mini-publics can complement representative and direct democracy, offering a powerful tool for democratic engagement. It states, “The Irish processes are powerful real-world examples of the potential systemization of deliberation.” (Farrell et al., 2021)

Question 45

How did these assemblies provoke a shift in Irish democracy ?

Answer 45

The text discusses a shift towards a “talk-centered” model of democracy, emphasizing citizen involvement in policy processes between elections. It cites Smith (2009), who mentions the aim to “increase and deepen citizen participation in the political decision-making process.” (Farrell et al., 2021)