Participatory Democracy

influence on policy making, quality of deliberation, and citizen engagement

Areas of impact Political Participation

Political participation

Taking part in political action or activity

Athenian democracy

To check the power of the oligarchs, a partial form of participatory democracy was initiated by Solon, where some decisions were made by a popular assembly composed of all free male citizens his evolved into more direct involvement by citizens

freedom of association and freedom of speech

Two important basic freedoms

Benjamin Barber

advocated for "individual democracy"; argued that liberal democracy with its focus on freedom alienated individuals from each other

1871

aris Commune sought to combine participatory democracy with collective ownership and management of the means of production

Jean Jacques Rousseau

democracy is incompatible with representative institutions

Critic of conservatives

excessively leftist in orientation

John Stuart Mill

freedom of association, and freedom of speech; he also was one of the first who advocated for a woman's right to vote

21st Century

led to the development of models and strategies for participatory democracy

Swiss Cantons

more direct democracy that was practiced in

John Dewey

participation in a democracy requires critical and inquisitive habits of mind, an inclination toward cooperation with others, and a feeling of public spiritedness and a desire to achieve the common good. This would require education.

1980s

participatory democracy began to be applied in local governance in many cities as democratization movements emerged in many parts of the world

Joel Wolfe

strong democracy should be a form of government in which all people participate in decision-making and implementation. While recognizing that the complexity of modern society imposes limits on direct democracy, participation by all is imperative because it creates shared interests, a common will, and community action, all of which inevitably give legitimacy to politics."

Representative democracy

technically is not participatory, since only the elected representatives are the ones participating in politics; the citizenry participates only during elections

Decentralization and devolution

transfer of decision making to local levels (principle of subsidiarity)