♪ Crying ♪ the failure of democracy In the European Union, erstwhile Greek finance minister Janis Warufakis late stated that he did not intend to quit and let go of European democracy – although he admitted: “before I can convince anyone else that EU electoral policy is worth the effort, I must convince myself.”
Warufakis is not isolated here. The decline of belief in democracy and assurance in political institutions are part of global trendalso affecting the EU. This is due to the fact that electoral policy frequently seems to be worshipful, petty and demoralizing, as Warufakis himself can undoubtedly testify. How, then, can we decision to a imagination that will replace bitterness with hope?
We can start by uncovering out what the Union problem is: in the current governance system, the power of citizens is far besides limited. It is worrying that in the message of the president of the Ursula von der Leyen committee on the state of the European Union in 2023 "Democracy" was mentioned only once. Yet it is democracy that must be the foundation of any political achievement. Von der Leyen praised her actions in the energy, labour, agriculture and others sectors. But even if we applaud her actions, there is inactive a hazard that they will stay undervalued, undermined or even destroyed if they are not democratically established and recognised.
‘New impetus for democracy“ is indeed 1 of the most crucial priorities the European Commission has set for itself next year. The Union has already acknowledged that citizens are not sufficiently committed and committed to governance. From words to deeds – and before it is besides late.
European Citizens' Assembly
In a fresh article published by European University Institute A group of experts and experts present the framework for action: the justification and outline of the European Assembly of Citizens (I am co-author of this text). The ideas presented by us work with those submitted by French and German scholars proposing institutionalised civilian panels – although our proposal is more ambitious. The European Citizens' Assembly would be a fresh political body, embodying power and civilian debate, co-organising with another EU institutions: the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament.
Making a fresh branch of power is no joke. And yet specified a assembly is needed, due to the fact that in times of systemic questioning of the value of democracy itself – as well as its definition – the highest stake is played. If citizens are deprived of real cause, if they do not have a real voice in the large decisions concerning us all in these turbulent times, the European political strategy will sink to the remainder of apathy and cynicism, and this will drive us even deeper into the spiral of the decline of democratic rule.
The European Citizens' Assembly would be a transformative force. Firstly, it would straight and horizontally connect all citizens and all European citizens. specified civilian society, inter-nationalised, would go far beyond the dominant, narrow knowing of "citizenship", based solely on its passport. To guarantee the representativeness of specified a body, including the full continent The gatherings would enter randomly elected representatives and representatives, selected by drawing – a procedure whose effectiveness has already been demonstrated in both explanation and practice.
The selection by drawing takes place in 2 stages: on a random selection basis, in which individuals are invited to participate in the Assembly and stratification to guarantee the representation of the full community, based on techniques utilized in public opinion polls.
This process enables the selection of a typical and diverse cross-sectional group of average people – a different kind of representation than in the case of choices in which individuals usually appear from the advanced and mediate classes. Could a fewer 100 citizens and citizens selected by drawing lots, participating in the Assembly on a rotation basis, be a "representation" of 5 100 million citizens of 27 (at least) countries? It could, if both the draws and their debates were made public in a radically transparent way.
The assembly must be a permanent body, due to the fact that only specified a body can avoid the bias and manual control of erstwhile and how specified assemblies are held, while bearing a promise to get cognition and position over time that would be understandable to the general public.
The European Citizens' Assembly would strengthen a common sense of democratic equality in Europe, as the key ethos of drawing is equal opportunities. Elections by draw give average people performing all kinds of professions equal chance to become a typical or typical – in a conventional electoral system, monopolized by politicians and parties, there is no specified chance. Members and members of the assembly would have the right to leave work in order to fulfil the civilian obligation: they would receive adequate remuneration for this period and would not bear the cost of childcare or transport.
The argument in favour of strengthening democratic equality is peculiarly crucial in the Union due to the fact that any of its associate States, and so their citizens, are seen as being more equal than others. In the Citizens' Assembly, a German individual or Latvian teacher could feel that they were more on their way with a Spanish individual or a Irish teacher than with an ‘elite’ representative from their own country.
Prevent state interception
In all this, impartiality is besides crucial, due to the fact that regardless of good intentions politicians and technocrats will always be seen as biased. The European Citizens' Assembly would not be linked to any political option, and randomly elected, rotating citizens would not gotta care for their political careers or the interests of any party. There would be no time to capture them into a network of peculiar interests, lobbyists or factions; they would be little susceptible to corrupt influences than professional bureaucrats or politicians. And besides – how wrote Hugh Pope, who is observing specified authorities in France – an first deficiency of cognition of a given subject may, during the full assembly, lead to a deeper debate on it.
Given not only procedural but besides this knowing of democracy, we know that 1 of the biggest threats to it is the capture of the state by powerful interest groups. At EU level, lobbyists have tremendous influence and corruption is further undermining citizens' assurance in the authorities. Citizens for whom participation in the Assembly will not be a phase of political career will debate more honestly and will be more open to considering the position of both the country and the full Union.
The European Citizens' Assembly could in a unique way embody the " epistemic democracy" of expressing different views on the planet and confronting them in almost perfect conditions: high-quality debate and moderation, broad information provided by all parties, conflicting views, plenary sessions Meetings with tiny groups, including and common listening, and joint decision-making through a qualified majority or consensus.
In these circumstances, more means wiser. Citizens' Assembly as demonstrated on the basis of above 600 examples documented by the OECD, as well as late in France and Belgium, make conditions in which our collective intelligence is revealed. This is even more actual of a situation involving different political cultures and language barriers with even greater diversity. The European Citizens' Assembly would let for a debate involving local, regional, national and transnational identities – a debate that goes far beyond the national fringes and the Brussels bubble.
The thought of self-government, in which all citizen and all citizen can imagine that in their life both governments and subject to them, is the oldest argument for the creation of bodies selected by drawing lots – but besides the most hard argument to translate into reality in the context of modern statehood and complexity of governments. In parallel with another EU bodies, however, the European Citizens' Assembly would be a profoundly democratic method to reduce social distinctions in the distribution of power in Europe, thereby preventing a group of professionals from monopolising power: politicians, bureaucrats, judges or experts.
Here is the large question of our times: what kind of democratic renewal do we request to last the existential changes – environmental, social, digital and geopolitical – that we face? The EU has a key function to play in uncovering answers to this question, both as a laboratory and as a leading global player.
No time for pessimism. It's time for bold experiments and citizens to regain power. It's time we took our destiny together into our own hands.
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Claudia Praise founder and manager of DemocracyNext, a nonprofit institute working to transfer power to the hands of average people. She previously chaired OECD work on innovative civilian participation and the future of democracy.
Article published in stock IPS-Journal. From English she translated Catherine the Formers.
