Check 8 - Democracy and Subsidiarity: Deliberative Democracy

The Hidden Power

A right to deliberative referenda shall exist; specific issues shall be resolved through Engage–Deliberate–Decide.

How are decisions made? If we cast our minds back, not just to Priti Patel's "Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts" Bill, but to numerous policies including Grenfell Tower fire cladding and the Poll Tax - we see a pattern: Decide, Announce, Defend - or DAD. And the result is, in many, many cases, a mess.

Why so? Or, more to the point - is there a better way?

Very much so, there is a better way - and in this episode we explore deliberative democracy on a national level in Canada and Ireland, as well as on a local level in Somerset, England.

Talking points:

Decide Announce Defend in the prevailing culture

Thought - or the lack of it - at the centre

Continual reform as an outcome and reality

"Democracy" in the UK electoral cycle

Who's decision is it?

Dysfunction in centralised decision-making in the Blair government:

(Progress and regress in family breakdown)

Levels of deliberative democracy: Engage, Deliberate, Decide

...in the health service in Canada

...under austerity in a Somerset library UK

...in a village in Wales

James Fishkin: better outcomes of deliberative democracy

Social purpose, and the "Blue zones"

Principles on why it works

...Fintan O'Toole (Irish Abortion Referendum)

...Professor Julia Lynch (politics of inequality)

Links:

From DAD to EDD - The Tinmouth Tiff (Article):

https://www.edstraw.com/new-public-service-management-from-dad-to-edd/See

The Hidden Power Episode 1, (Podcast - Go to 34'40"):

https://www.edstraw.com/the-hidden-power-podcast-ep-1-where-is-the-power/

Priti Patel and the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police,_Crime

James Fishkin, Godfather of Deliberative Democracy (Wikipedia):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S._Fishkin

Fintan O'Toole on the successes of the Irish Abortion Referendum (The Guardian):

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/29/brexit-ireland-referendum-experiment-trusting-people

Professor Julia Lynch at the LSE (Facebook video):

https://www.facebook.com/lseps/videos/1008977266175627

Stein Ringen gives a 10-min animated précis on his book The Economic Consequences of Mr Brown (Youtube), a stinging rebuke of the system of government in the UK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHcfNy1_zqA

Overview of participatory democracy (webinar (1hr+), text)

https://www.publicdeliberation.net/the-contours-of-participatory-democracy-in-the-21st-century/

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