Jan 112022: An Expansive YearThe other day, someone asked me what my year would look like if it were a painting. Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Green, Orange and Yellow” came immediately to mind. The colours, the movement, the textures. The winding, serpentine path. It captures the feelings of my year. Deciding what to do next at…Democracy15 min readDemocracy15 min read
Published in Participo·Feb 2, 2021Citizen councils: An international perspectiveJoin us for a virtual event on 22 February 2021! #delibWave — Register for the webinar here Around the world, public authorities from all levels of government increasingly turn to Citizens’ Assemblies, Juries, Panels and other representative deliberative processes to tackle complex policy problems. …Deliberative Democracy2 min readDeliberative Democracy2 min read
Published in Participo·Jun 10, 2020Available now: OECD ‘Catching the Deliberative Wave’ reportAccess the OECD report and highlights here. The OECD has collected evidence and data that support the idea that citizen participation in public decision making can deliver better policies, strengthen democracy, and build trust. …Deliberative Democracy4 min readDeliberative Democracy4 min read
Published in Participo·May 26, 2020OECD Launch event: Catching the Deliberative WaveJoin us for the report launch on 10th June 17.00–18.00 CET! — Register for the event. The “deliberative wave” has been building since the 1980s, gaining momentum since around 2010. Public authorities across the world and at all levels of government have used around 300 Citizens’ Assemblies, Juries, and Panels to involve citizens in tackling complex policy problems. …Deliberative Democracy2 min readDeliberative Democracy2 min read
Published in Participo·May 20, 2020Response to the public consultation on the good practice principles for deliberative processesThank you for taking part! — In March 2020, we shared the Draft Good Practice Principles for Deliberative Processes for Public Decision Making for discussion and comment. We received 131 comments from civil society, governments, academics, and practitioners. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the draft principles and provide us with insightful…Open Government1 min readOpen Government1 min read
Published in Participo·Apr 29, 2020Digital for deliberation experimentation surveyAre you a practitioner delivering a representative deliberative process fully or partially online? Tell us how! — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many planned Citizens’ Assemblies, Juries, and other representative deliberative processes to be fully or partially transformed for an online context. Policy makers still want and need informed, collective citizen recommendations to pressing policy problems.Digital For Deliberation3 min readDigital For Deliberation3 min read
Published in Participo·Mar 5, 2020Draft principles of good practice for deliberative processes for public decision-making:For comments and discussion — Deliberative processes are one of the most innovative methods of fostering citizen participation in government. The OECD has collected a wealth of evidence as to how deliberative processes work across different countries. …Open Government2 min readOpen Government2 min read
Published in Participo·Feb 18, 2020Citizen engagement in the implementation of Cohesion PolicyCall for Submissions — Deadline extended — Actively engaging citizens and civil society in policy-making processes is at the core of open government agenda and key to inclusive governance. …Citizen Engagement2 min readCitizen Engagement2 min read
Published in Participo·Feb 11, 2020Renewing democracy in an age of complexity and disillusionmentThe context In our age of polarisation, populism, and pessimism, the future of democracy and governance have become salient concerns. Books about its end, death or crisis have proliferated. At the same time, there is a refrain about ‘checks and balances’ as a safeguard from full erosion. But are they enough, or…Participatory Democracy7 min readParticipatory Democracy7 min read
Nov 15, 2016The urgent need for democratic renewalA year and a half ago I wrote a short book called The Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change. There was a lot of consideration and hesitation about the title, particularly the sub-title, whether or not it sounds a bit too urgent. Thinking about the Brexit vote…Politics4 min readPolitics4 min read
