The role of informal participation in deliberative constitution-making: Constituent processes in Chile and Iceland

Abstract

This thesis investigates the role of informal participation in deliberative constitution-making. While citizens’ informal deliberation in the public sphere remains central to normative accounts of deliberative democracy, empirical research and the design of constituent processes have often focused on institutionally designed mechanisms for public input. This thesis shifts the focus onto informal participation in the public sphere: from casual conversations to civic associations; from street art to soup kitchens; and from political organising to spontaneous protest. It examines how these informal modes of participation can, do and should shape constitutions. These questions are both normative and empirical; the thesis applies an abductive methodology that moves between theory and case study. Empirical analysis of constituent processes in Chile (2019–) and Iceland (2008–) finds evidence that informal participation has the capacity to generate, legitimise and implement new constitutional norms, even when constitutional change has not been formally ratified. Comparative analysis of the two cases also illustrates the deeply contingent nature of deliberative constitution-making, with political and social context shaping both informal participation and the formal constituent process. The thesis integrates these insights back into normative theory via three ideas that help to conceptualise the role of informal participation in deliberative constitution-making. ‘Fluid politics’ refers to democratic practices that challenge the limits of the existing regime, allowing citizens to develop democracy in ways that are not possible within institutional politics. ‘Vernacular participation’ describes how pre-existing participatory structures are mobilised to create spaces in which these alternative forms of politics can be imagined, practised and developed. The ‘shadow constitution’ further demonstrates that, through fluid politics, citizens can not only produce new norms but also generate a degree of popular legitimacy for those norms that enables them to take effect without being legally ratified. Together, these ideas establish a significant role for informal participation in deliberative constitution-making. The implication for deliberative scholars and constitution-makers is that constituent process design and research must be attuned not only to the institutional context, but also to the broader social fabric.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	English
Supervisor	John DRYZEK (Supervisor) & Selen AYIRTMAN ERCAN (Supervisor)