Central European Papers 2025, 13(2):11-36 | DOI: 10.25142/cep.2025.004

SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES ACCORDING TO DECISION-MAKERS: EVIDENCE FROM POLISH CITIES

Joanna Podgórska-Rykała1
1 Institute of Law, Economics, and Administration, University of the National Education Commission, Krakow

This article offers insights into the opinions of Polish decision-makers on citizens’ assemblies implemented at the local government level. The author employs interpretive, qualitative empirical research, utilizing in-depth interviews with three groups of local political and social actors, who either commissioned or participated in the implementation of nine citizens’ assembly processes in major Polish cities between 2016 and 2021. The study aims to identify the successes and failures attributed to these innovative deliberative processes by respondents directly involved in their commissioning and implementation. This analysis will determine which of the elements or characteristics of the citizens’ assembly most strongly affect the decision-makers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the decision to commission and implement it. As they are at the heart of modern representative democracies, their involvement and support are fundamental to the success of any change within democratic systems. Their attitudes and evaluations are therefore also crucial for the success of innovative deliberative projects, and the result of discerning these evaluations and attitudes can be a better conceptualization of future deliberative institutional designs.

Keywords: deliberative democracy, democratic innovation, deliberative mini-publics (DMPs), citizens’ assemblies (CAs), local government, Poland

Received: June 27, 2025; Accepted: September 18, 2025; Published: July 9, 2026  Show citation

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Podgórska-Rykała J. SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES ACCORDING TO DECISION-MAKERS: EVIDENCE FROM POLISH CITIES. Central European Papers. 2025;13(2):11-36. doi: 10.25142/cep.2025.004.
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