Anything but the Status Quo? How Can We Explain Citizens’ Support for Radical Reforms of the Political System? A Specific Look at Underrepresented Groups of Citizens.

This paper investigates citizens’ support for radical reforms of the political system, focusing on underrepresented groups. While recent scholarship has documented growing interest in deliberative democracy and deliberative mini-publics (DMPs), leading some to speak of a “deliberative turn” (Goodin, 2008), most studies address citizens in general, overlooking how underrepresented citizens relate to such reforms. Prior research identifies various political (Christensen & von Schoultz, 2019; García-Espín & Ganuza, 2017; Gherghina & Geissel, 2020; Jacquet et al., 2022; Rojon & Pilet, 2021) and socio-demographic (Coffé & Michels, 2014; del Río et al., 2016; Már & Gastil, 2021; Vandamme et al., 2018) factors shaping support for DMPs, though findings remain inconsistent. Political dissatisfaction consistently emerges as the strongest driver (Bowler et al., 2007; Bengtsson & Mattila, 2009; Pilet et al., 2022; Goldberg & Bächtiger, 2022). Yet, limited attention has been given to whether underrepresented citizens are particularly supportive of deliberative reforms, and under what conditions. Building on recent findings (Pilet et al., 2023), this paper examines whether issue context influences their support : e.g., whether DMPs addressing redistributive issues such as income inequality generate more backing than those on technical topics like European integration. Using data from the EPIS survey, it contributes to understanding when and why underrepresented citizens endorse deliberative democratic innovations.