Participatory democracy

Participatory democracy is a process emphasizing the broad participation (decision making) of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems. While etymological roots imply that any democracy would rely on the participation of its citizens (the Greek "demos" and "kratos" combine to suggest that "the people rule"), traditional representative democracies tend to limit citizen participation to voting, leaving actual governance to politicians.

Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a political group to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities. Because so much information must be gathered for the overall decision-making process to succeed, technology may provide important forces leading to the type of empowerment needed for participatory models, especially those technological tools that enable community narratives and correspond to the accretion of knowledge.

Some scholars argue for refocusing the term 'participatory democracy' on community-based activity within the domain of civil society, based on the belief that a strong non-governmental public sphere is a precondition for the emergence of a strong liberal democracy. [Alternative Conceptions of Civil Society, edited by Simone Chambers and Will Kymlicka (Princeton University Press, 2002)] These scholars tend to stress the value of separation between the realm of civil society and the formal political realm. [The Idea of Civil Society, by Adam B. Seligman (Princeton University Press, 1992)]

Political variants

Political variants of participatory democracy include:

Representative democracy is not generally considered participatory. Bioregional democracy is often but not necessarily participatory. Grassroots democracy is an alternative term that has been used to imply almost any combination of the above.

Participatory politics (or parpolity) is a long-range political theory that also incorporates many of the above and strives to create a political system that will allow people to participate in politics, as much as possible in a face-to-face manner.

Panocracy or 'pantocracy' also has similarities with participatory democracy. However, it avoids the concept of "demos" or the people having a single view with the inevitable limitations that come from trying to agree what that view is. It also avoids the expectations that attach to anything called democracy.

New concepts such as open source governance, [http://del.icio.us/mbauwens/P2P-Governance P2P governance] , open source politics, and open politics seek to radically increase participation through electronic collaboration tools such as wikis and 'wikigovernment.'

External links

* [http://www.iied.org/NR/agbioliv/pla_notes/documents/plan_04402.pdf Participatory democracy in Porto Alegre, Brazil] - International Institute for Environment and Development
* [http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook The Citizen's Handbook]
* [http://www.athensproject.com Athens Project - Organization dedicated to promoting Participatory Democracy by helping direct access democracy candidates run for office] — Independent organization.
* [http://www.participatorydemocracy.net/ ParticipatoryDemocracy.net] - Bilingual site (English & Spanish) sponsored by Participatory Democracia Cultural Initiative, Inc., an international non for profit association of volunteers devoted to the promotion of participatory democracy and human rights
* [http://jhsnider.net/citizensassembly Citizens Assembly Blog] — J.H. Snider's blog covering citizens assembly developments worldwide
* [http://www.esc.eu.int/sco/events/08_03_04_democracy/index_en.asp Conference: Participatory democracy: current situation and opportunities provided by the European Constitution]
* [http://www.solidar.org/Document.asp?DocID=4821&tod=62618 EESC conference on participatory democracy]
* [http://www.wiki.demosphere.net Demosphere Project] - The project to develop a community based e-democracy framework using open source and interactive software.
* [http://www.dialoguebydesign.net/consultation/resources_reading.htm E-participation and the future of democracy]
* [http://www.citizenspanel.eu European Citizens' Panel] on the roles of rural areas in tomorrow's Europe
* [http://www.citizens-initiative.eu/ European Citizens' Initiative] - Campaign for more participation rights for citizens of the European Union
* [http://radicalblogs.org/lpps/ London Project for a Participatory Society] - "An anti-racist, pro-feminist, anti-capitalist organization" in London, Ontario, Canada.
* [http://www.metagovernment.org/ Metagovernment] - Open source governance project aimed at replacing all governments with scored wikis
* [http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU34.html Participation through action research]
* [http://www.srds.co.uk/mdg/participation.htm Stakeholders and participatory democracy related to the MDGs]
* [http://fc.antioch.edu/~james_green-armytage/voting.htm Voting methods resource page] Includes a proposal for participatory democracy by means of a delegable proxy system.
* [http://www.redfal.org FAL - Forum de Autoridades Locales] (Multilingual site) The World network of Local Authorities linked to promote Social Inclusion and Participatory Democracy
* [http://www.nuovomunicipio.org Rete del Nuovo Municipio] (Italian) The Italian project for promoting participatory democracy, linking up local authorities, scientists and local committees.

Footnotes

ee also