Engagement politics activates citizens

With the upcoming Winnipeg municipal election just around the corner, Free Press contributors are reminding us of the risks of low voter turnout and encouraging us to exercise our civic responsibility by casting our votes.

What’s missing for me in these submissions is attention to an underlying cause of these low voting rates — the fact that both the electorate’s trust in politicians and politicians’ trust in the electorate are at a very low ebb. Given the collapse of democratic trust, why would we expect otherwise?

The electorate’s mistrust of politicians is easy to understand in light of the all-too-frequent lapses in moral judgment on the part of politicians at all levels of government. While there are, of course, noteworthy exceptions, we don’t have to look far to be confronted with these lapses.

But what of politicians’ mistrust of the electorate? The fact is there are few opportunities for citizens to work collaboratively with elected officials to explore solutions to the unprecedented problems we are all facing. As a result, the myth of an ignorant and self-interested public goes unchallenged. Yes, we are invited to attend town halls. Yes, we are asked to respond to multiple surveys. But is that democracy? Is that true engagement of citizens in political life?

During our last provincial election, a candidate came to my door asking for my vote and for feedback on the platform outlined in his election pamphlet. I told him that the content of the pamphlet was so vague it could represent any and all political positions. He replied that his party had to rely on content that everyone could understand; that most people didn’t have my level of understanding. Apart from the fact that he knew nothing about my putative level of understanding, I was gobsmacked by his absolute dismissal of citizens’ capacities for rigorous discernment.

So what’s missing here? Without in any way diminishing the heroic efforts throughout history of people who fought for and continue to fight for full enfranchisement; without in any way diminishing the need for sound and just electoral practices, it seems clear to me that casting votes is in no way a guarantee of democratic society. It is just one thread in the democratic fabric.

Without structures and processes that allow for authentic engagement, citizens are left without opportunities to develop and exercise their capacities for collaborative discernment and sound, value-led decision making about social, environmental and economic issues that are critical to all our lives.

There are many examples to guide us in the establishment of such structures and processes. Here’s a Canadian one:

In 2003, a group of 158 citizens in British Columbia were randomly selected to consider various electoral systems and to make recommendations on whether to replace the standard Canadian model of “first past the post.” Named the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, the group engaged in deep learning and deliberation over the course of the year and recommended that British Columbia’s model be replaced with a new system called “single transferable vote.”

That was a clear example of ordinary citizens’ capacity for authentic democratic engagement through what proved to be the Western world’s first modern citizens’ assembly. A successful outcome for sure — were it not for the fact that the then-ruling Liberal Party raised the bar for a provincial referendum on the recommendation from a simple majority of 50-plus-one per cent to a super-majority of 60 per cent. And so the recommendation bit the dust just two per cent short of the inflated requirement.

Then there is the astounding result of citizens’ political engagement in Ireland in 2013. Assigned the task of deliberating the issue of gay marriage equality, 99 members of a citizens’ convention modelled after the British Columbia citizens’ assembly recommended a national constitutional referendum on marriage equality — the only path to changing the traditional definition of marriage enshrined in the Irish constitution and embedded in cultural and religious beliefs. Not surprisingly, personal stories told by people who carried the heavy burden of homophobia had the greatest impact on the citizens of the convention.

Unlike in B.C., Irish politicians held a referendum that led to the legalization of gay marriage in Ireland — a result achieved through the direct authority of the Irish people, rather than through the courts or parliament.

Since then, many levels of government around the world have used citizens’ assemblies to address critical issues and guide policies.

Which brings me to questions about possibilities here in Winnipeg. Are any of the candidates for mayor, councillors or school trustees talking about citizen engagement that goes beyond ballot-box politics? Are any candidates incorporating the vision of a more authentic citizen engagement in their platform? If so, they have my vote.

Frances Ravinsky writes from Winnipeg. Most of all, the wisdom she has managed to acquire over her long life comes from her “human library” — the stories people have generously shared with her about their own lives and those of their ancestors.