To Politicise or to Depoliticise, That Is the Question! On Public Encounters in Deliberative Processes

ABSTRACT The relationship between public administrations and civil society has always been considered one of the nodes on which the quality of democratic living depends. An important part of this relationship is determined by so‐called public encounters, that is, the multiplicity of contacts and interactions between public personnel and citizens. In recent decades, participatory deliberative processes have generated new public encounters, whereby ordinary citizens and stakeholders discuss public problems with public professionals, share information and viewpoints, and try to find feasible and reasonable solutions. The critical literature on deliberative processes warns of the risk of the interactions between citizens and public personnel contributing to depoliticisation mechanisms, thereby transforming what should be a creative process into a constrained process that inhibits conflict and manipulates citizens. The aim of this article is to test the thesis of the depoliticising effect of deliberative processes by presenting the findings of an empirical analysis of public encounters in deliberative processes. The research reveals that the reality is far more multi‐faceted than how the critical debate depicts it: the degree of depoliticisation is not constant, and it in fact fluctuates during the various stages of the deliberative process; simultaneously, elements of indirect repoliticisation emerge. These findings have prompted us to question the pessimistic view of critical scholars and to propose a partial reframing of the concept. The findings also confirm the usefulness of using public encounters as fundamental analysis units to better understand the development and dynamics of deliberative processes over time.