Minipúblicos no contexto internacional - uma revisão integrativa de literatura

Abstract

The Mini-publics are a participative metodology at service of public administration, of Legislative as well as Executive, mainly at municipal sphere. Also known as “citizen jury”, are composed by 20 to 500 common people and laical about the subject, that receive relevant information about the context, interact with specialists and question “withnesses” (“stakeholders” with different views) for one or more days, then exchange arguments and deliberate in search of concensus. In view of the dissemination of the use of mini-publics as an instrument for the implementation of public policies, this study investigates how literature has been examining this initiative. The state of the art has been mapped through a literature review in the international context published on "mini-public and mini-publics", since the research results in Brazil are incipient. In this study, results show that the literature is focused on seven thematic categories. The field of study has been tracked and analyzed in a time series of the most cited papers (based on the h index) from 2010 onwards. They primarily address the concept, the increase in empathy for those on the other side of the political debate, the fact that individuals exposed to information about minipublics and the findings of the field have significantly increased their knowledge on policies and are able to establish deep cognitions on the subject, and the positive influence of mini-publics in the formation of public policies. On the other hand, they present critics about the way mini-publics are used. Finally, they point out the guarantee of inclusion of citizens in the choices and the innovation, since minipublics favor the development of substantive opinions on technological or innovative issues.