Involving Citizens in Crisis Management: A Case for Deliberation During Emergencies

This paper studies the role of public participation in the context of emergencies, such as pandemics. Two main challenges of democratic governance that can arise during acute crises are the uncertainty of information and the urgency of the situation. These challenges can lead to the technocratisation of emergency response and executive overreach that can undermine the democratic governance of a crisis. In response to this potential for the erosion of civil democracies in exceptional situations, this paper argues that the use of democratic innovations, such as public participation, should also be extended to exceptional circumstances to strengthen democratic governance in emergencies. The involvement of the general public in crisis management can generate a more efficient crisis response, build trust in public authorities, and increase public compliance. Moreover, public involvement during acute crises can increase communication between the official emergency response and citizens’ preferences. Deliberative practices are especially suited for emergencies due to their capacity to reduce many of the inequalities in citizen groups. A further benefit of deliberative processes is that they can stimulate and support informed public opinion by putting structures into place that acknowledge common interests and long-term policy preferences. The analysis of deliberative mini-publics organised globally in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic show varying and novel responses to the challenges of responding to acute crises. These deliberative processes demonstrate how citizen groups and public authorities can contribute to both responsible and responsive governance during crisis situations.