The Irish Citizens’ Assemblies (CAs) have emerged as a distinctive model of democratic innovation, raising important questions about their governance legitimacy. This article evaluates the legitimacy of these assemblies by analysing the dynamics which emanate from organisational arrangements within their governance structures, and among key actors influencing decision-making. Employing a new governance legitimacy framework utilising the input, throughput, and output dimensions (Caluwaerts and Reuchamps, 2023; Reuchamps and Suiter, 2016), the study combines empirical observation, qualitative methods (including semistructured interviews with elected representatives and senior organisers) and conceptual analysis, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of these dynamics. Some researchers have raised concerns that the involvement of public servants in coordinating assemblies, while enhancing their strategic integration into policymaking processes, could risk compromising independence and increasing susceptibility to instrumentalization due to close affiliations with politicians. In addition, the appointment of assembly chairs by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), often senior public servants, could pose a threat to procedural independence. We find, despite these risks, the assemblies’ institutional arrangements facilitate political buy-in while enabling effective functioning and both formal and informal citizen participation, bolstering legitimacy by ensuring participant ownership of process and recommendations.
Suiter et al. (Tue,) studied this question.