Deliberative Citizens Arenas in Europe: Questions of Democratic Legitimacy

Although the theory of deliberative democracy suggests that deliberation among the citizens could improve the quality of democracy making it more legitimate, rarely the question of legitimacy was directly approached within the research on deliberative are nas of citizens. In fact, most of deliberative practices has been implemented assuming that legitimacy derives from the process of deliberation no matter how the process was implemented and what kind of dynamics took place within the deliberative arena. This research aims to approach the question of legitimacy of deliberative citizens arenas in Europe, by analyzing the case of EuroPolis - EU Deliberative Poll held in Brussels in 2009. The main part of my research activity will be devoted to the analyses and interpretation of the unique data produced during the previous collaboration with ARENA research staff within a framework of EuroPolis project. The analyses of the data will allow me to answer the following research questions: 1. Can the selected sam ple of European citizens be representative of the EU polity, and thus produce legitimate decisions after participation in deliberative process? The inclusiveness of the polity in deliberation on political decisions creates the basis of legitimate decision s. As the EU lacks the typical polity that are held to be constitutive of nation-states we need to asses if the participants selected to participate in deliberative process can develop the sense of belonging to EU Polity. 2. Does the perceived legitimacy of demands and counterarguments expressed by other (different nationality) participants increases after the participation in deliberative arenas? The second research question is related to the perceived legitimacy of demands and counterarguments of other EU citizens who participate in deliberation. As it is the case of classic representative democratic institution, demands in order to be legitimate should be considered as such by those who participate.