I recently attended Matthew Taylor’s annual lecture about deliberative democracy. I’m becoming a passionate advocate of this idea and how important it is for our future. Matthew talked about why our democracy and the people in political power need this change. I’d like to highlight another place where our society would benefit from this change.
Much has been discussed about people feeling disengaged, disenchanted and disenfranchised in recent years. Is deliberative democracy a way to give people back their voice, in a positive way? As Mathew Taylor has said in his follow up blog, during citizens jury’s ‘ordinary people from all walks of life can be thoughtful, constructive and opened minded.’ These opportunities for positive dialogue between people must be positive for the participants involved.
I’d like to tell you my story. I’ve been a Fellow of the RSA since I was 21 after winning a student design award. Over the last 12 years I’ve watched from the sidelines, not sure where I fitted in, but keen to support the RSA’s work on creating a better society. Earlier this year I was invited to an event for International Women’s Day. The Labour party had invited a selection of Derbyshire business women to celebrate our successes and discuss the challenges we face. Jeremy Corbyn attended. For me it was like a switch turned on. Someone was going to listen to me. My comments could be taken back to the places of power. Previously I had thought they would hear nothing more from me than my one vote on the infrequent opportunities I was asked for it.
I became informed. I went straight to the RSA, to delve deeper into the research. I went into that meeting knowing what I wanted to say (and I said it!)
This is what deliberative democracy can do. Give people a voice. It gives motivation to engage in our society.
I would highly recommend watching the video created by the RSA about the Citizen’s Economic Council. In it you will see the transformation of the participants during the event. They talk about how much they have grown in knowledge and confidence. They feel energised by the experience. Not only do they benefit from the opportunity to learn about an issue but also the opportunity to discuss this with their fellow citizens. At the end they talk about sharing stories of the journey they have been on with people outside of the event. This could be a huge benefit of embedding citizen’s assemblies in our democracy. We give people the chance to learn more about important topics, but also we give them the chance to learn more about how to have a meaningful dialogue.
Many of us feel that our nation is becoming divided and polarised, this would be an opportunity to improve our attitude to how we can communicate with each other. It is in our national interest to learn how to resolve our difference so that we can work better together to face the challenges ahead of us.
I too feel energised by my experience of having a place where I was listened to. I now feel a motivation to continue my journey. I am involved in organising an RSA event in Nottingham in October where we intend to spread this feeling. We will be discussing big, important topics where there is a need for change and I want to embrace the idea that you don’t need to know all the information, or have all the answers to turn up. This has been a journey of discovery for me and I hope the event will be the start of a journey of discovery for all those who attend.
Step by step I have moved forward and each time I’ve been able to speak up, each time I’ve been listened to and each time I’ve become more informed. This is the opportunity that we should offer to everyone. Citizens jurys as part of deliberative democracy can start to do this.
We’d like to hear from any RSA Fellows interested in assisting with our Nottingham event. It will be an inclusive, family friendly afternoon of participatory activities to fuel our desire to bring about change. Particularly keen for help with visual design and promotion in the coming months.
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