Not Too Close, Not Too Far. Public Preferences for the Integration of Climate Assemblies Across Different Stages of the Process

Climate assemblies constitute a ‘mini-public sphere’ in which a small group of randomly selected citizens formulates climate policy recommendations. Linking this ‘mini-public sphere’ to other actors in the broader public sphere, such as elected politicians and the wider public, may enhance the inclusiveness and popular control of climate assemblies, thereby leading to more public support for the process. However, it remains unclear to what extent non-participating citizens prefer such integration and why. Moreover, existing findings on which forms of integration non-participants favour are mixed, and little is known about whether and how these preferences vary across different stages of the assembly process. To address these gaps, we conduct a conjoint experiment in Belgium, Germany, and Poland in which respondents are presented with hypothetical climate assemblies. The degree of political and societal integration is randomly varied at each stage of the assembly process. This design allows us to assess how close climate assemblies should be to politics and society and at which stages, in order for the wider public to perceive them as legitimate processes strengthening democratic governance.