Brazil needs to advance in deliberative democracy.

By Silvia Cervellini 

Representatives from 85 organizations in 30 countries across six continents met in Berlin this week to present experiences and point out new paths on a pressing issue for the planet: citizen deliberation. Three Brazilian experts in public opinion and co-founders of the Delibera Brasil collective spoke at the "R&D Conference on Democracy 2022" in the German capital, representing our country at the meeting promoted by the Democracy R&D Network (DR&D).

Within this international network of organizations, associations, and individuals, we work to help decision-makers [such as mayors, governors, city councilors, state representatives, and senators] develop bills and actions of public interest with the effective participation of society, legitimizing and facilitating parliamentary action as well as the development of assertive public policies. Citizen deliberation, in short, is about putting into practice and improving what democracy truly is, at both local and global levels.

Through Citizen Assemblies, city residents are invited, by lottery, to participate in shaping public decisions. This random selection ensures not only transparency and diversity in discussions but also avoids conflicts of influence and partisan pressures.

Since the last in-person meeting of the DR&D Network — in February 2020, in England, before the Covid-19 pandemic — a global urgency has become even clearer: the promotion of processes capable of allowing each person, in the wide range of diversities and individualities that make up modern societies, to feel legitimately represented in bodies responsible for the design and implementation of public policies that affect them.

The pandemic and its terrible aftermath, the prevailing anxiety at the COP 26 Climate Conference over the slow pace of action on climate change, the war in Ukraine and the worsening of international tensions, the recurrence and persistence of political polarization and the disrespect for democratic institutions are causing crises to "pile up." All of this demands a level of resolution accompanied by legitimacy that representative democracy alone cannot deliver.

Citizen Assemblies [also known as Citizen Juries, Citizen Panels, and Mini-Publics] and the so-called "Civic Draws" were modeled after a practice invented back in the 1970s. At that time, the end of the Cold War allowed for the discussion and explicit search for political decision-making mechanisms that would complement and deepen representative democracy.

The goal was to make democracy more effectively accessible and responsive to citizens. This need was already so pressing that democratic innovation emerged in parallel in the United States, with Ned Crosby's Citizen Juries; and in Germany, with Peter Dienel's Planning Cells. Crosby and Dienel met years later, when they formed the embryo of what would become the DR&D Network.

The “boom” of Citizens’ Assemblies — or “deliberative wave,” as they have been called by the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] — was leveraged by the emblematic example of the “Citizens’ Assembly on Abortion” in Ireland. Held in 2017, the initiative helped that country resolve a political impasse that had dragged on for decades.

There are many outstanding projects developed by countries that are part of the DR&D. Examples include the "City Observatory" in Spain; the "Rural Climate Dialogues" in the United States; the "Citizens' Economic Council" in the United Kingdom; the "Student Government Lotteries" in Bolivia; the "Citizens' Budget Participatory Group" in Korea; "Increase Democracy" in Nigeria; and the "Citizens' Assembly on Solid Waste Management" in Brazil — developed by Delibera, in Fortaleza (CE).

A pioneer in our country in the organization and promotion of Citizen Assemblies and Mini-Publics, Delibera Brasil also developed the Decidadania project in cities such as Ilhéus in Bahia, with the “Orla Viva” project; and the municipalities of São Miguel Paulista and Pirituba-Jaraguá in São Paulo, with the “(Re)Age SP” project, among others. The next cities to experience the project will be Francisco Morato (SP), Salvador (BA) and Toritama (PE), where the population will be invited to debate and deliberate on climate, sanitation, sustainability and environmental preservation.

This and other successful experiences implemented by the Brazilian collective were shared by us this week at the Berlin Conference. We conducted the lectures “Let a thousand flowers bloom: scaling out and replicating citizen deliberation” on Thursday (29); and “Pre-deliberation learning focused on lower formal educational groups make better assemblies” yesterday (30). “How to ensure that minorities have representation and specificities guaranteed in deliberative processes?” and “How can citizen assemblies help in addressing the climate emergency?” were other questions analyzed during the Conference, about which we want to obtain answers for the planet; especially, for the Global South.

There is no doubt that we need to rebuild the democratic machine, working hard and tirelessly. We are following complex political processes and contexts, and we are convinced that citizen deliberation and civic voting must be taken seriously. They are valuable allies in addressing public problems where there is no clearly better path than another, but where society should be invited to consider, carefully evaluate the costs and benefits, and make choices, taking into account the common good and the future consequences of its decisions.

Co-authors:

Ana Lucia Lima She is the founder of the organizations "Social Knowledge - Strategy and Management" and "Social Knowledge". She was the director of the Paulo Montenegro Institute, linked to Ibope. She is a co-founder of Delibera Brasil.

Fernanda Imperio She holds a degree in Business Administration from FGV, specializing in Marketing, and has extensive experience in participatory processes for knowledge production and evaluation in the social field. She is also the co-founder and coordinator of Delibera Brasil.