Meaningful, but Effective? A critical evaluation of Ireland’s Citizens’ Dialogues on the Future of Europe

Costello, Anthony (2021) Meaningful, but Effective? A critical evaluation of Ireland’s Citizens’ Dialogues on the Future of Europe. Politics. ISSN 0263-3957

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Abstract

On the 25th March 2017 leaders of the EU27 and EU institutions ratified the Rome Declaration. They committed to invite citizens to discuss Europe’s future and to provide recommendations that would facilitate their decision-makers in shaping their national positions on Europe. In response, citizens’ dialogues on the future of Europe were instituted across the Union to facilitate public participation in shaping Europe. This paper explores Ireland’s set of dialogues which took place during 2018. Although, event organisers in Ireland applied a relatively atypical and more systematic and participatory approach to their dialogues, evidence suggests that Irelands’ dialogues were reminiscent of a public relations exercise which showcased the country’s commitment to incorporating citizens into the debate on Europe whilst avoiding a deliberative design which could have strengthened the quality of public discourse and the quality of public recommendations. Due to an absence of elite political will for a deliberative process, as well as structural weaknesses in design, participants’ recommendations lacked any clear and prescriptive direction which could shape Ireland’s national position on the future of Europe in any constructive or meaningful way.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is the author's post peer review version of an article, the final version of which is published in Politics, published by Sage, available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263395721991483
Keywords:	citizens’ dialogues, future of Europe, European Union, mini publics, deliberative democracy, participation.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities
Depositing User:	Tony Costello
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2021 14:23
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2024 11:48
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3437

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