Should we care about small-scale deliberation? A systematic literature review of minipublic consequences

The early 1980s marked the start of deliberative democracy both in theory and in practice. Not only did political theorists shift their attention towards models of deliberative democracy, deliberative democratic innovations such as citizens’ juries, deliberative polls and citizens' assemblies were implemented. In the following decades, these innovations commonly referred to as minipublics would become a celebrated type of institution to involve citizens in the democratic process and to cure the malaise of representative government. The organization of such small-scale gatherings in which citizens discuss public issues by now has become widespread and for some is even a lucrative undertaking. But what do they actually achieve? What are their actual effects on the functioning of political systems? Are minipublics viable democratic innovations? In this article, we seek to contribute to this agenda by systematically reviewing the literature on the consequences of deliberative minipublics.