Mapping the Effects of Democratic Innovations

Democratic innovations are widely promoted as a strategy to restore public trust in political institutions. However, scholars warn that these processes must be both meaningful and consequential to avoid exacerbating public distrust. While recent research has begun mapping these external effects, scholarship remains fragmented by "type" (e.g., mini-publics vs. participatory budgeting), failing to provide a unified framework or a clear account of the causal chains leading to large-scale effects such as legitimacy, trust, or policy impacts. To address this gap, this paper introduces a typology designed to categorize and trace the multifaceted outcomes of democratic innovations across diverse contexts. Drawing on a synthesis of academic and practitioner-led research, the framework identifies four critical dimensions: (1) sources of influence, (2) types of effects, (3) objects of influence, and (4) underlying causal mechanisms. Each dimension is grounded in multiple empirical examples to demonstrate the typology's descriptive utility. Not only does the typology provide a systematic classification, but it also offers a nuanced view of the impact dynamics of democratic innovations. For instance, it highlights unintentional consequences—such as civil society exclusion—while underscoring the need for empirical research and theory-building to substantiate the often-assumed positive effects of citizen engagement. Ultimately, the framework provides an operational tool to navigate these complexities, compelling us to demonstrate whether and how democratic innovations truly (re-)shape political, public, and policy landscapes.