The topic for the first event will be the proposed plan to build Nuclear Power Stations across Australia. Explore and discuss in groups from the comfort of your own home.
Conversation at the Crossroads (C@C) is preparing to convene an online Citizen Assembly to consider the proposal made by the Coalition parties to build seven nuclear power plants across Australia, a Coalition policy commitment announced by Peter Dutton last June, and since reaffirmed more than once.
This will be our most ambitious attempt yet to bring a significant number of Australians sharing a wide range of views to consider an issue of major importance to our common future. This will be a pilot scheme in deliberative democracy, to which other groups and organisations as well as interested individuals will be invited to contribute in various ways, and which we hope to scale up in the months and years ahead.
WHO PARTICIPATES? In deliberative democracy decisions are not the prerogative of the rich and the powerful, but the right and responsibility of all citizens. The making of decisions and the process of deliberation must be free of the distortions that arise from sharp inequalities of wealth, power and influence. All citizens can advance, criticise or amend a proposal. There is no overt or covert hierarchy.
WHAT IS DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY? The idea of deliberative democracy has a long history dating back to ancient times. It offers an urgently needed antidote to the current crisis of democracy now sweeping much of the Western world. Though the practical application of the idea has to take account of the vastly changed circumstances of life today, the core idea remains unchanged. A society is genuinely democratic and its laws are legitimate to the extent that decisions made flow from a process of authentic deliberation to which everyone is invited to participate. This means a process in which citizens are able to engage in thoughtful consideration of the key issues that affect their lives and the lives of future generations.
HOW DO WE PARTICIPATE?
In a democracy, deliberative processes are structured in ways that favour rational argument and knowledge of the relevant facts. More than that, deliberative processes are inspired by an ethic which privileges freedom of thought and expression, civility, truthfulness, accountability, and the widest possible access to all known facts. Citizens, it cannot be stressed enough, are not isolated individuals but members of a community linked by common challenges, common aspirations, and common responsibilities. Participants in democratic deliberation are diligent, prepared to weigh the merits of different arguments, and willing to temper self-interest with a commitment to the public good. While deliberative democracy entertains the possibility of eventually coming to a decision by vote, its first priority is to explore the possibility of reaching a decision by consensus even in the midst of ethnic, religious, cultural, and political diversity. Consensus does not mean unanimity. It is a process that requires patient and prolonged consideration of different views. It has the great advantage of fostering open communication, shared understanding, and a deeper sense of belonging. Even if a decision is eventually made to resolve the matter by a vote, participants can still opt to vary the size of the majority required, raising it from 50 to 60, 70 or even 75 per cent, thereby ensuring that the eventual decision has wide-ranging community support. And where this is not the case, it means more discussion is required, until the threshold can be reached.
MAKING A START
One thing is clear. Democracy cannot be reduced to elections. Voting every few years for this or that candidate for public office does not deliver democracy. The question is: how can deliberative legitimacy be achieved in large-scale societies where face-to-face deliberation is not feasible. Wisely applied, advanced technologies can help. They cannot fully replace direct human encounters, but they may complement traditional forms of communication, provided they respect the agency and dignity of the human person and allow for effective human interaction. There are no simple or single answers. A degree of experimentation will be needed to see what human ingenuity can do to breathe new life into democratic processes at all levels of human governance – from the local to the national, to the global. And we invite you, and all Australians to be part of this process of renewal.
DECISION MAKING
In deliberative democracy, citizens determine all areas of policy-making, including defence and security policies. They carefully monitor how policies are applied and periodically review all policies. Its purview is wider still. Deliberative democracy is concerned with the political and legal institutions that are meant to sustain it, and importantly with a society’s constitutional arrangements. Institutions and constitutions are periodically revisited and renewed to ensure they are fit for purpose. At a time when public trust in government is at its lowest ebb, the key institutions of representative democracy, including parliaments, electoral systems, political parties, bureaucracies, and courts, need to be subjected to comprehensive review and reform.
THE FIRST CITIZEN ASSEMBLY
We have already developed the concept and the format of this exercise. After a good deal of research, we have identified the technology developed by the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University as the most appropriate for our purposes.
Our planning is based on the expectation of a May election. We are inviting ALL interested Australians to participate in an Online Assembly. This will be made up of hour long discussion in small groups (3rd week of April), followed by a plenary meeting a week later. Should an earlier election be called, we’ll reschedule this first Citizen Assembly to a post-election date. The question to be discussed will depend on the outcome of the election. The participants will have before them the specific proposal of the coalition parties, with equal space given to the case for and against, prior to and during the Assembly.
The questions to be put to the participants during the small group and plenary sessions will not be just a case of supporting or opposing the proposal, but also getting participants to share:
what they know about the proposal, and the nuclear power / energy policy / climate change issue more generally
what they see as the benefits or risks of the proposal
whether they’ve had conversations about the proposal with people in their networks
what ideas they have about energy options available to Australia
whether they have listened carefully to those expressing opposing views
how they view the discussion they’re participating in
what they make of the prospects for participatory and deliberative democracy in Australia.
Engagement will also be enabled through supporting avenues, including: A digital survey to gauge people’s initial views before the Assembly
An online landing page containing materials related to the Assembly designed to help inform the community about the issues raised by the proposal
An online discussion facilitated on the OurVoice platform, inviting people to contribute their thoughts and perspectives and indicate their response to the proposal.
An online discussion facilitated on the OurVoice platform, inviting people to contribute their thoughts and perspectives and indicate their response to the proposal.
All questions and requests for further information can be sent to admin@crossroadsconversation.com.au
