RENEWING DEMOCRACY:

CAN CITIZENS BE PART OF THE SOLUTION?

At a time when many despair of voters who support anti-democratic politicians and parties, this section examines whether, and how, citizens can be part of the solution to democratic crisis. Here you will find cutting-edge thinking about enhancing how citizens participate in governance, and how distortions in public participation can be addressed.

‘STANDARD’ PROCESSES TO CHANNEL CITIZENS’ VOICES

ELECTIONS

Elections are the central mechanism in contemporary democracies to give a say over how they are governed. In parliamentary systems, the legislature (parliament) is directly elected and the government is then formed from within parliament. In presidential systems, both the executive (president) and legislature (congress) are directly elected.

REFERENDUMS & PLEBISCITES

Referendums and plebiscites are a key departure from representative government, in the sense that they empower citizens to have a more direct impact on decision-making. While such direct ‘popular’ votes have become more common in recent decades, since 2016 votes in the UK (Brexit), Australia, Chile, and Ireland have made some question their value.

LEGISLATIVE PROCESSES

Legislatures (parliaments and congresses) are central institutions in any democratic state. The central forum for representatives elected by the people to debate and deliberate on major challenges of political and social concern, enact laws, and maintain oversight over the government of the day. Committee and other processes provide channels for citizen input.

OPINION POLLS

Public opinion polls are commonly used in democracies to gauge citizens’ views on specific political and policy questions, and to assess their views of the government and other state institutions. However, while such polls provide a window into citizens’ views, they do not provide any mechanism for citizens to be directly heard in policymaking processes.

INNOVATIONS & LESS COMMON MECHANISMS

CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES

Citizens’ assemblies ordinarily convene 50-200 (average; 90) randomly-selected ordinary citizens to consider a policy challenge and make recommendations. First trialled in New Brunswick (Canada), such assemblies have become a key feature of Ireland’s political system and have proliferated across Europe.

DELIBERATIVE POLLING

In states such as the USA and Mongolia, deliberative polling has been employed to seek citizen’s views on specific issues. These provide a fuller process than ordinary public polls. However, compared to citizens’ assemblies and citizen panels, they provide a less organised and engaged setting, involving a much higher number of citizens and employing self-selection rather than random selection.

CITIZENS’ PANELS

Similar to citizens’ assemblies, but usually with fewer participants (30-40), these operate in more localised settings (e.g. village, town, city). In states as diverse as Brazil, South Korea, Spain and Indonesia, they have been used to involve citizens in budget planning, service delivery, strategic planning, and crisis responses (e.g. in UK regions).

VILLAGE ASSEMBLIES

In states such as India and the Philippines, village assemblies are enshrined in the Constitution as local-level government structures to facilitate discussion and decision making that are closer to the people than national government agencies and procedures. Innovative thinking includes drawing on design principles for citizens’ assemblies to enhance how village assemblies function. See the article by Michael Yusingco featured below.