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Who wants to pay for deliberative democracy? The crowdfunders of the G1000 in Belgium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2016

Vincent Jacquet  and
Min Reuchamps
Vincent Jacquet*
Affiliation:
Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE), Université catholique de Louvain, Place Montesquieu 1, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Min Reuchamps
Affiliation:
Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE), Université catholique de Louvain, Place Montesquieu 1, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
*
*E-mail: vincent.jacquet@uclouvain.be
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Abstract

Thanks to crowdfunding, deliberative mini-publics can be funded bottom-up to reach a wider support in the population and secure financial autonomy for their design. But who are the people willing to pay for deliberative democracy and why? This article answers this twofold question using an original survey with crowdfunders of the G1000 in Belgium. First, the financial support for deliberative democracy mainly comes from the more socially advantaged groups. But second, the crowdfunders largely diverge in their democratic preferences. Some are critical and favour any forms of alternative decision-making process, including technocratic forms. Others demonstrate a stronger attachment to electoral institutions and their political actors. Hence, the study of the crowdfunders of the G1000 shows that deliberative democracy attracts the support of citizens with different political orientations. This sheds light on the complex and intertwined links between a mini-public and its larger maxi-public.

Keywords

deliberative democracymini-publiccrowdfundingpolitical participationG1000
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 29 - 49
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2016 

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