The Role of the Independent Secretariat in the Institutionalization of Citizens Assemblies: Insights from Ireland

Citizens assemblies have emerged as pivotal innovations in democratic governance, offering citizens structured opportunities to engage in informed deliberation on complex policy issues. Despite their increasing use, the processes through which these deliberations are institutionalized within public administration remain underexplored. This paper investigates the role of key civil servants, specifically independent secretaries, in the institutionalization of deliberative mini-publics in Ireland, using the organizational learning framework developed by Crossan and colleagues. This framework provides a lens to understand how independent secretaries learn, adapt, and contribute to the institutionalization of deliberative processes within the Irish government. The study explores three interrelated stages of organizational learning: (1) Intuition and Interpretation, examining how independent secretariat members acquire and interpret knowledge through their engagement with citizens assemblies; (2) Integration, focusing on how these insights are shared to foster mutual understanding and collaboration between participatory governance and administrative actors; and (3) Institutionalization, exploring how these learnings are formalized within organizational practices and structures. Empirical insights are drawn from semi-structured interviews with independent secretaries across all Citizens’ Assemblies held in Ireland, as well as a comprehensive document analysis of relevant reports, internal communications, and policy outputs. This combined approach sheds light on the critical role independent secretaries play in advocating for and facilitating the integration of deliberative mini-publics into long-term governmental processes. By applying the organizational learning framework, this research provides a deeper understanding of how independent secretaries contribute to the institutionalization of citizens assemblies in Ireland. It offers actionable insights into the mechanisms through which key civil servants influence the institutionalization of citizen engagement within public institutions, thus advancing deliberative democracy and systemic governance reform.