Strategic motivations & normative objectives: Understanding the Rationale Behind Irish Politicians’ Support for Citizens’ Assemblies

Ireland has been home to several pioneering deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) over the past decade. These have contributed to significant institutional and constitutional reforms, and they continue to engage Irish citizens on local and national issues. This uniquely positions Irish representatives with regards to their experience incorporating DMPs' work into their own and positioning themselves with regards to mini-publics. In light of this growing and sustained collaboration between citizens and elected representatives, what is the latter's motivation in supporting these processes? This chapter will deploy the Gherghina and Jacquet (2022) framework to unpack the interaction between Irish political parties and the deliberative citizens’ assemblies. It will differentiate between the political and policy imperatives as well as the strategic objectives and normative goals including within (intra) and between (inter) party dynamics that deliberative processes could help or hinder.