The Effects of Mixed Membership in a Deliberative Forum

The Irish Constitutional Convention of 2012–2014

Bibliographic Data

ID6345499
AuthorsDavid M Farrell (0000-0002-0528-4335, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, corresponding author), Jane Suiter (0000-0002-2747-8069, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland), Clodagh Harris (0000-0002-0246-6280, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland), Kevin Cunningham (0000-0001-8270-5458, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Year2020
Volume68
Issue1
Pages54-73
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0032321719830936
OpenAlexW2932756999
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited24

The Constitutional Convention was established by the Irish government in 2012. It was tasked with making recommendations on a number of constitutional reform proposals. As a mini-public, its membership was a mix of 66 citizens (randomly selected) and 33 politicians (self-selected). Its recommendations were debated on the floor of the Irish parliament with three of them leading to constitutional referendums; other recommendations are in the process of being implemented. This article uses data gathered during and after the operation of the Convention to examine this real-world example of a mixed-membership mini-public. The focus is on how the inclusion of politicians may have impacted on the Convention’s mode of operation and/or its outcomes. We find little impact in terms of its operation (e.g. no evidence that politicians dominated the discussions). There is evidence of a slight liberal bias among the politician membership, but this had little effect on the outcomes

Convention · Government (linguistics · Inclusion (mineral · Irish · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

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