Who Deliberates? Obstacles to Inclusion in a Mini-Public

Deliberative democracy and different institutional innovations that embody it have for some time been regarded as „a hope for democracy“. The hope lied, among other things, in the possibility to find a cure for the „democratic malaise“ of decreasing citizen's participation and trust in mainstream politics. Mini-publics decision making, however, carry the danger of worsening the disease that they were expected to cure. The paper will support the claim that self-selection mechanisms at work in the recruiting of mini-publics may lead to fora of participants that are considerably more trusting of the political system than those who decline to participate. As an illustration of the claim survey data collected during a deliberative poll conducted in the city of Karlovac (Croatia) on the revitalisation of the old town centre, will be used. Furthermore, there is a danger that mini-publics come to be regarded as part of the system of the already distrusted democratic institutions and thus no answer to calls for letting people have their say in matters political. These dangers, however, might be avoided by introducing previous, more inclusive and wider based procedures that would legitimise putting a decision in the hands of a mini-public.