Survey Article: Recipes for Public Spheres: Eight Institutional Design Choices and Their Consequences

The institutional design choices involved in creating "minipublics," defined as small decision-making bodies with strong connections to the state & civil society, are investigated; in addition, the sundry consequences of establishing minipublic are contemplated. Eight institutional design choices associated with the founding of minipublics are identified, eg, determining the functions of minipublics, selecting the mode of deliberation to be used, deciding how often minipublics should convene, & empowering participants to make decisions. The potential consequences for the quality of democratic governance presented by the establishment of minipublics are separated into four categories: the nature of participation & deliberation; the sharing of information & the augmentation of participants' social & democratic skills; the relationship between state action & public deliberation; & the mobilization of popular support. Five contemporary minipublics founded in the US & Brazil are studied to illustrate the extent to which certain institutional design choices have either succeeded or failed to expand the public sphere. The study's implications for determining the future composition of minipublics & for political & social thought are also pondered. 3 Tables, 47 References. J. W. Parker