The parliamentarization of deliberative democracy: Why do elected officials institutionalize citizen participation in their parliament?

Around the world, a growing number of parliaments are experimenting with deliberative models that allow citizens to actively participate in public decision-making. The institutionalization of these models is especially visible in Belgium, where four parliaments have permanently instated deliberative democracy. We investigate the reasons behind institutionalization by applying a mixed method design to quantitatively establish whether a difference in support can be observed between parliaments that have and those that have not institutionalized deliberative models. We then analyze qualitatively how parliamentarians conceive deliberative models and why they opt for a specific design.