Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation as Embodiment

Abstract

In this essay, I analyse different proposals for inserting deliberative minipublics into the political process in order to overcome the many representational “gaps”that afflict traditional party systems today. I argue that the notion of representation that underlies many of these proposals has some strong similarities to the notion of representation as “embodiment” that is characteristic of populism. From a comparative analysis of the populist and lottocratic varieties of “embodied representation,” I highlight two features they share, which are also inimical to democracy. On the basis of this analysis, I defend a way of understanding the relationship between minipublics’ participants and citizenry at large that avoids the problematic features of the conception of representation as embodiment. To conclude, I show how defences of “trust-based” uses of minipublics can be problematic and, instead, argue for participatory uses of minipublics that would genuinely empower the citizenry.