Design Criteria for Institutionalized Mini-Publics

This paper will argue for certain design criteria for deliberative mini-publics that merit institutionalization. It will then look at two cases that, to a considerable degree, satisfied those criteria and achieved institutionalization (either informal or formal). The two cases are 1) the application of Deliberative Polling in Texas for all 8 service territories in the state which was directly connected to the massive increase in the state’s investment in wind power (bringing it from last to first among the fifty states in wind power) and 2) The Law on Deliberative Polling in Mongolia which has been implemented to create two amendments to the constitution, both of which have been adopted successfully. The Texas case is an example of informal institutionalization for a designated period and the Mongolia case is an example of formal institutionalization (required by law). The paper will discuss why the design features contributed to the adoption of the model in both cases.