Building political trust for deliberative processes
Interview with Graham Allen, Convener of The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy, former Chair of the UK Parliamentary Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform, and Member of the UK Parliament 1987–2017
How did the idea for a Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy (CCUK Democracy) come about?
The CCUK Democracy sprang from the UK Parliaments’ Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee (PCRSC) 2010–2015, which worked with King’s College London (KCL). From 2015, it drafted and evolved the concept of a Citizens’ Convention on Democracy in the UK. As our experience grew, deliberative democracy became ever more central to the project.
Personally, the more I read the more I was inspired. Not least by the work of David Van Reybrouck, James Fishkin, newDemocracy Australia, and a host of pioneering academics, service providers, and practitioners, who opened my thinking to the centrality of deliberation. By 2017, our Board was committed to organising an independent national deliberative process for our democracy and began raising funds.
A further leap forward was that during the 2019 election campaign, all UK-wide parties committed to a review of our democracy. The winning Conservatives promised to set up the Commission on the Constitution, Democracy and Rights (the Commission).
I like to use the metaphor of seeing the review of the state of democracy in the UK as a four-legged chair. The Commission, Parliament, and Government are three legs, but the final one, without which the chair would fall, is citizens. The CCUK Democracy sent its proposal for such meaningful engagement to the Prime Minister in October 2020.
How would the Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy work?
To complete this task of democratic renewal, citizens, elected representatives, academics, and practitioners have to work together in mutual tolerance and respect. We are proposing to the UK Government a three-part independent Citizens’ Convention ideally to meet before the Commission.
It would start with a UK-wide National Conversation about the changes that our democracy needs to be competent, relevant, and inclusive. We want to spark a deep and broad conversation, collecting views to nourish the Citizens’ Convention, using varying face-to-face and digital methods and tools.
As a second step, the in-depth deliberations of the Citizens’ Convention would be carried out by a group of 400 randomly selected citizens, broadly representative of the wider population living in the UK.
Their deliberations would take place in up to five themed assemblies of 80 citizens working on one topic. Government will rightly want to negotiate about and then commit to the five broad themes. Each themed assembly would hold a series of meetings, immersing themselves in the topic for a proposed around 40–50 hours in total. Our proposal suggests they could include:
1. Reviewing the powers and membership of the second chamber;
2. Examining the voting system at parliamentary and local level;
3. Reviewing the relationship between central and local government;
4. Proposing how politics should be funded; and
5. Examining the legal recognition given to constitutional provisions.
The final step would be the UK Citizens’ Summit. This would be the public and media sign off culmination of the months of intensive work by citizens.
The Convention is an impressive undertaking. What do you consider as key to ensuring its success?
My key message for everyone involved in deliberative democracy is: sort out the political endgame before you do any further work. We have been planning the Citizens’ Convention for five years. We are taking our time, because what we are interested in is locating the citizens’ reports in social and political reality, ensuring that elected politicians are comfortable with the process.
Governments and Parliaments have to have enough faith in the process that they can agree in advance to respect and meaningfully consider what the citizens have put forward. We can ask for no more than that.
One of the OECD Good Practice Principles for deliberative processes recommends that a deliberative process should have influence on public decisions, for which it is key to have decision makers on board. How have you been working to achieve that political buy-in?
If we achieve our aim, much of it will be due to the work of our political partners in the UK, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party, and the Conservative Party over the last five years. Leading members of each party signed our proposal. There has been patient and persistent communication and explanation with individual elected representatives, ministers, and all party groups.
Making Parliaments and Governments part of the negotiation helps create the basis for political trust, understanding, and potentially an agreement to consider all and act on many of the Convention’s recommendations.
What are the next steps for the Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy?
We have submitted a detailed proposal to organise the Convention both to the Prime Minister and to Michael Gove, the relevant Secretary of State at the Cabinet Office. We are now continuing the conversation with the politicians and the broader public and look forward to the Government’s reply.
After CCUK Democracy’s five-year journey, we can say to our elected politicians: when you are ready, we are ready. When you decide it is time, we will produce a beautiful gift for you — one you could not make for yourselves — the citizens’ recommendations on democracy. All we ask in return is some reassurance that you will treat it seriously and respectfully.
It is worth the wait. As a former Member of Parliament for 30 years, I know that deliberative democracy has potential to liberate public representatives to fulfil their potential.
For more details on the use of representative deliberative processes for public decision making please consult the OECD international report: Catching the Deliberative Wave: Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions.
This post is part of the New Democratic Institutions series. Read the other articles:
Introducing the New Democratic Institutions series
The New Democratic Institutions Participo series will take a closer look at how some of the institutionalised representative deliberative processes came about, how they function, and what lessons can be drawn from their implementation so far.
How Ostbelgien became a trailblazer in deliberative democracy
An interview with Yves Dejaeghere, one of the key people involved in designing the permanent Citizens’ Council in Ostbelgien, the German-speaking Community of Belgium.
Citizens’ Initiative Review: Helping citizens make better informed voting choices
An interview with Linn Davis, programme manager at Healthy Democracy responsible for the Citizens’ Initiative Review.
Citizens’ Councils in Vorarlberg: Building a culture of participation
Interview with Michael Lederer, Head of the Office for Future Affairs in Vorarlberg, Austria.
How can Citizens’ Assemblies open up parliament?
Interview with Pepijn Kennis, Member of the Brussels-Capital Regional Parliament and Chairperson of the Agora.Brussels parliamentary group
