Deliberative democracy

The RSA held the first International Week for Democratic Innovation event in January this year, where participants discussed best practice in deliberative democracy

by Riley Thorold @riley_thorold

Beneath the surface noise of day-to-day politics, a different kind of tune is picking up volume. Deliberative democracy sounds very distinct from everyday democracy, valuing lengthy deliberation and informed negotiation over grandstanding speeches and point-scoring debates, and around the world people are increasingly choosing it to counteract the cacophony of business-as-usual politics. The OECD calls this trend a “deliberative wave”, which became the unofficial motto of the first ever International Week for Democratic Innovation (IWDI), hosted and led by the RSA at the end of January in Manchester. Over the week, attendees had the opportunity to learn about developments in deliberative democracy around the world. The Innovating Local Democracy conference heard from international pioneers in this field. This included practitioners in Gdansk who have led legally binding citizens’ assemblies on a number of topics, and experts from Madrid who successfully instituted a rotating ‘observatory’ of randomly selected citizens in the city council. We were also able to share lessons about local projects that have come out of the Innovation in Democracy programme, a government-funded experiment in deliberative democracy co-delivered by the RSA. The programme involved three UK local authorities running citizens’ assemblies on a variety of topics. The results of the independent evaluation are yet to be released but the headline takeaway is encouraging: citizens’ assemblies can not only support good decision-making at the local level, but can also help to restore participants’ trust in political institutions and their sense of civic duty.

One of the key events of the week was the Democracy R&D Annual Convention. This is supported by a network of academics, practitioners, journalists and campaigners driving deliberative reform around the world. Since last year’s meeting, members of the Democracy R&D Network have been busy; in Ostbelgien (the tiny German-speaking region of Belgium) a group of members drew up plans for a new permanent chamber of randomly selected citizens, which will set the agenda each year for further citizens’ assemblies. Since their meeting, this has become a reality.

Throughout the week, two key themes were raised again and again: standards for public deliberation, and deliberation and climate change. Deliberative democracy may be in vogue, but it is important that new converts appreciate the meticulous planning and substantial cost that goes into running a successful citizens’ assembly. Attendees discussed the need for well-defined standards that did not preclude flexibility, dynamism or innovation, all of which remain vital.

Thanks to Extinction Rebellion and its call for a national citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice, deliberative democracy in the UK is closely identified with the climate crisis. We discussed how deliberative democracy can generate the kind of policymaking we need to tackle the climate emergency. Insulated from the pressures of party and money, deliberation helps citizens to confront complex issues and to arrive at coherent and nuanced responses. Over the next year, we will continue to explore and interrogate deliberative democracy processes; who knows what we will achieve next?

Riley Thorold is an Assistant Researcher in the Public Services and Communities team at the RSA