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 DD
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:
DAD and EDD:https://www.edstraw.com/new-public-service-management-from-dad-to-edd/
See The Hidden Power Podcast Episode 1, (Go to 34’40”):
Priti Patel and the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police,_Crime,_Sentencing_and_Courts_Bill
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):
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:
Overview of participatory democracy (webinar (1hr+), text)
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