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Democratic Innovations: Engaging Citizens in Political Decision-Making

Explore the challenges and opportunities of citizen engagement in democracy. Learn about democratic innovations and e-democracy initiatives, their effectiveness, and the need for inclusiveness and competence.

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Democratic Innovations: Engaging Citizens in Political Decision-Making

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  1. Democratic InnovationsMatt Ryanm.g.ryan@soton.ac.uk

  2. You first • What is ‘democracy’? • What role do citizens play in ‘democracy’? • What are the challenges in engaging citizens in political decision-making processes?

  3. The sceptical voice • “Participation will be unequal” • “There will be no impact on final decision making” • “Citizens don’t know enough to make good judgements” • “Participation is too expensive and time-consuming” • “Citizens don’t want to participate” • “It only works at the local level”

  4. Why does it matter NOW? • A ‘democratic malaise’? • High levels of alienation from formal politics • Professionalisation and public misunderstanding of politics • Differential participation exacerbates inequalities • Informal politics vibrant? • What are weaknesses of (1) elections; and (2) consultation exercises as modes of citizen engagement?

  5. Remember the good ol’ days?

  6. Deliberation • decision making should not only be concerned with aggregating preferences, but also the nature of the processes through which these preferences are formed. • Problems: • Domination • Assumptions about consensus • Competence?

  7. What does democratic innovation look like?

  8. Orçamento participativo Citizens' Assemblies Deliberative Polls Citizens' Initiative Review Conselhos e-democracy crowdsourcing Citizens' Juries AmericaSpeaks Bilancio Solidale Plano Plurianual Participativo Participatory Planning 21st Century Town Meeting Participatory Monitoring World café Agora Charrette Citizens’ Conference Citizens' Reference Panel

  9. E-democracy, e-government and civic tech • Do current examples of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) lead to effective citizen engagement in the political decision making process? • What are the opportunities / challenges of e-democracy?

  10. Examples of e-democracy innovations • 21st Century Town Meetings • Open discussion forums • Typically asynchronous dfs increasingly used by public authorities as method of consultation • Restricted discussion forums • Secure, moderated sites for ‘hard to reach’ communities (e.g. Womenspeak, HeadsUp) • Online deliberative poll (ODP) • Randomly selected citizens in small groups using voice-activated software • c.f. mini-publics • ICT-enabled direct legislation and transparency monitoring • E-voting and petitions • Fix my street

  11. Challenges for popular control, inclusiveness, competence and effectiveness in online innovations • Digital divide and digital literacy • Flaming and anonymity • Lack of commitment to responsive for a by authorities • Places high demand • Fragmentation of public sphere • Purpose – monetisation v democracy • Domination of moderators and gatekeepers • Crowdsourcing and representing data • Lots of bluster about online/offline communication • Multi-channel participation

  12. Read more • Smith, Graham. 2009. Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press • Dalton, Russell J. 2004. Democratic Challenges, Democratic Choices: The Erosion of Political Support in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, especially Chapter 9. • Stoker, Gerry. 2006. Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave, especially Chapters 2 and 5. • Dahl, Robert. 1989. Democracy and its Critics. New Haven: Yale University Press, Chapter 1 ‘The First Transformation’ • Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, especially Chapters 1, 3, 4. • Sanders, Lynn. 1997. ‘Against Deliberation’. Political Theory 25(3): 347-76 • Bryan, Frank. 2004. Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How it Works. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. • Lang, Amy (2007). ‘But Is It for Real? The British Columbia Citizensﾒ Assembly as a Model of State-Sponsored Citizen Empowerment’, Politics and Society 35, 1: 35-69 • Particpedia.net • Coleman, Stephen. 2004. Connecting Parliament to the Public via the Internet: Two case studies of online consultations. Information, Communication and Society 7 (1):1-22 • Wright, Scott. 2006. Government-run Online Discussion Fora: Moderation, Censorship and the Shadow of Control. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 8 (4):550-68. • Tiago Peixoto @participatory; democracyspot.net • Paolo Spada http://www.spadap.com/

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