Decisional Authority and Mini-Publics

While mini-publics are not a new idea, interest in them has grown considerably in recent years. In essence, a mini-public is a small group of people chosen at random from a larger population and tasked with deliberating about some important matter of law or public policy. Usually, the mini-public issues a recommendation that is intended to influence the work of elected representatives. However, some theorists claim that mini-publics should themselves have decisional authority. Some go so far as to argue that they should supplant elected representatives altogether. The aim of this paper is to interrogate, and ultimately reject, the claim that mini-publics should have decisional authority. To grant them decisional authority would be to render the demos redundant. Of course, as a microcosm of the demos at large, its character as a mini-public will depend on that of the demos at large. In that sense, one might say that the demos remains basic. One might also say that the mini-public’s decision is merely what the demos would have decided if it could have been put through the same educative process. However, the fact remains that the demos (or its majority) is deemed to endorse a view that it does not, or has not, endorsed in fact. In short, in a democracy, it matters that the people should actually express their will.