When public participation matters: The 2010–2013 Icelandic constitutional process

• Published in: International Journal of Constitutional Law
• Main Author: Landemore, Hélène
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2020
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icon/moaa004; http://academic.oup.com/icon/article-pdf/18/1/179/33244763/moaa004.pdf

Abstract Public participation in constitution-making is now both an established international norm and a widespread practice. But what does public participation really mean and when can it be said to matter? This article documents the case of public participation in constitution-making that took place in Iceland between 2010 and 2013. The Icelandic case is interesting both for the innovative ways in which the public was involved but also because public participation in the process can be shown to have made a causal difference to the resulting text. The quasi-natural experiment setup of the Icelandic constitutional process makes it possible to compare the textual output of expert groups and that of the non-professional politicians on the Constitutional Council who crowdsourced their work to the larger public. The comparison suggests that on some crucial aspects the more inclusively written text is marginally but significantly better than that written by experts alone.