Notes from a crumbling empire

How deliberative democracy could save the world

I grew up in a small town in rural Vermont. A town so small that we do not have a municipal government but rather a Town Meeting where every year, the community gathers to discuss and debate everything from how much money would go to the roads and schools to whether there should be a ban on GMO seeds. This was my introduction to politics and my introduction to economics, so you can imagine my horror when I entered university and realized that a lot of people seemed to believe that the economy was governed by its own natural laws and not by us. Thus began my now decades long love-hate relationship with economics and my belief in the power of deliberative democracy to advance sufficiency and wellbeing for all.

The US is currently facing a democratic crisis. With all branches of our federal government seemingly aligned towards an authoritarian nationalist agenda, we should take Trump’s promise that “you won’t have to vote any more” seriously. Many have commented on how we got here. About how the economy was the primary concern for voters in the last election but many continue to echo the Democrats talking point that the US economy was actually thriving under Biden with G.D.P. soaring and inflation subsiding, implying that people are just confused, or stupid, and that the major issue was one of messaging. I don’t think the American people were stupid or confused, but rather acutely aware that our political and economic systems are fundamentally broken and inextricably linked. 70% of Americans see the economy as “rigged” to benefit the most powerful, and the majority believe we need to completely reform of our political and economic systems. The left blames big business. The right blames the government. But the majority of us know that they are one and the same at this point. A Princeton study confirmed our suspicions that since the 1980s, “the preference of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact on public policy”. If democracy is majority rule, we haven’t lived in a democracy for a while now.

With economic growth as our north star, we accepted governments role as a henchman of private sector interests. Encouraging and rewarding large investors and corporations that could most efficiently stimulate this growth and trusting that this increased national income, would either trickle back down or be used by the state to fix any major damages done to people and planet in the process. The issue is that in countries like mine, neither of these scenarios occurred, and so when faced with the options of continued corporate globalization (e.g. neoliberalism) or authoritarian nationalism (e.g. fascism) most Americans opted for the latter, and who could blame them? We were not offered a compelling alternative. A system of genuine self-determination where we have a voice over our livelihoods and collective destinies. Where we do not need to hope for the benevolence of a dictator, billionaire or politician to ensure our economic security but through systems genuinely governed by the people, for the people.

The threats to our democracy are real, but if we are to protect the world from the onslaught to come, we need to be a lot more ambitious than the protection of the status quo. It’s time to acknowledge people’s legitimate anger at government and corporate globalization and illustrate another way is possible. In response to a global consolidation of wealth and power, we are not only seeing a rise of fascism worldwide but also its counterforce in the form of deliberative democracy. The OECD found a “deliberative wave” emerging since the 1980s and growing exponentially since 2010 whereby citizens are directly engaged in policy making. This deliberative wave may be quieter and less prominent in the news but its transformative power should not be underestimated.

Wales visionary wellbeing of future generations act emerged out of a participatory process whereby citizens were asked, “What kind of Wales do you want to leave for you children and grandchildren?”. Their responses informed a new national performance framework centered in social and ecological goals, rather than economic growth, and was the foundation for a transformation of governance systems to ensure long-term, preventative thinking and collaborative, participatory processes needed to achieve them. The rise of citizens assemblies worldwide is another important example of this deliberative wave and it’s telling that when asked what types of policies are needed to advance social and ecological goals, people intuitively understand the need for economic systems change.

Spain’s citizens assembly on climate resulted in a bold suite of policies needed to transition to a regenerative and circular economy. While Ireland’s citizens assembly on biodiversity resulted in a draft constitutional referendum around the rights of nature. When we start with social and ecological goals, we’re able to see the economy as a means and not an ends, and articulate policies needed to align our systems of production and consumption to ensure the wellbeing of all life, for generations to come.

While the US is far behind Europe in terms of post-growth or degrowth thinking, when we look at the local or state level, we can find this deliberative wave swelling here as well. In Washington State, what began as a 10-year poverty alleviation strategy transformed into a leading example of co-governance and deliberative democracy. Through multi-stakeholder deliberations they realized that the issue was not actually about poverty but about “building a just and equitable future in which all Washingtonians have their needs met; and the resources and opportunities they need to thrive”. They recognized that previous government efforts focused on elevating the symptoms of poverty rather than its root causes and that historically marginalized communities were the ones who have the lived expertise needed to design more upstream interventions. They identified inequality and climate change as major threats to collective wellbeing and so empowered a group of community organizations who sat at the intersections of economic and environmental justice to advance a process for advancing collective wellbeing. This Just Futures Coalition recommended a “a participatory democratic process that brings people together to articulate community needs, assess solutions, and mobilize for action, with a focus on those furthest from economic wellbeing” and articulated a co-governance framework (see below).

Image: Just Futures- Cornerstone of Co-Governance for a Just and Equitable Future

Based on these recommendations, the Legislature allocated two million dollars to pilot a series of community assemblies across the state to discuss and propose policies and public investments in Washington State Government. Indeed, when you start looking you can find examples of this deliberative wave rippling across this country from participatory budgeting in Richmond, Virginia to citizens assemblies in Fort Collins, Colorado. In Hawaii, Aina Aloha Economic Futures is advancing new visions for economic development centered in indigenous Hawaiian values while here in Vermont, the Vermont Prosperity Project is working to advance a future generations act.

I write this because I know that it looks like all hope is lost for the US and that in our final days of empire, we will take the world down with us but just know that resistance is building. The threat of tyranny will mobilize many, but I believe it is hope that will topple this regime and prevent WWIII. Our movement has the capacity to illustrate this hopeful alternative. One where people, not presidents, articulate the long-term goals and properties for their societies. Where communities, not congress, craft policies and allocate collective resources in line with their values and objectives. Where technical agencies are empowered to implement policies rather than being beholden to the whims of their politically appointed overloads. If people are angry at the government and big corporations, let us remind them that we are the economy and that we have a right and responsibility to mold and direct this system to ensure dignity and wellbeing for all.

Photo Credit: Pyae Sone Htun

Article written by Amanda Janoo, WEAll and New America, Family Economic Security and Wellbeing Fellow