Can Deliberative Mini-Publics Expand Citizens’ Access to Power After Conflict?

Deliberative mini-publics can enhance democracy, but their potential to strengthen democratic processes in divided, post-conflict societies with power-sharing elements remains underexplored. Power-sharing, a common governance tool in such contexts, often neglects direct citizen engagement by emphasizing elite bargains. Comparison of assemblies held under different national frameworks allows can generate insight on best design choices to integrate deliberative practices within broader power-sharing governance systems. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by analyzing power-sharing from below through the comparative analysis of design elements of several citizens’ assemblies held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo between 2021 and 2024. The research is based on interviews, process tracing, and where available surveys of assembly members and experts. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of when deliberative processes with random sortition can provide an alternative, citizen-oriented process to share power in divided and post-conflict societies.