Workshop Democratic Innovations in Theory & Practice

Transcription

1 Doctoral Program Democracy Studies Workshop Democratic Innovations in Theory & Practice 6 7 December 2018, Zurich, Affolternstr. 56, 8050 Zurich Day 1: Thursday 6 December Morning session: Institutional Design of Democratic Innovations Moderator: Yanina Welp 9:00-9:15 Opening remarks Yanina Welp and Martha Sandoval 9:15-10:15 Key-note speech: Joan Font IESA, Institute for Advanced Social Studies, Spain Title of presentation: Participatory institutions: Macro and micro choices in institutional design Abstract: Top-down participatory instruments are more frequently used than in the past. Even if the old disputes between their supporters and adversaries have not completely vanished, part of the dispute is moving to the specific institutional designs of these instruments and their respective influences on their results. In other words, the discussion is being reframed from a yes/no to a how should they work. The presentation makes the claim that two types of institutional design choices are involved. First, macro choices, in which general types of instruments should be chosen. Here, the alternatives are more strategic and imply having different priorities in the objectives to be achieved (e.g., better representation, enlarged participation or enhanced deliberation). Second, micro choices may be of a more technical nature (from having an independent facilitator to organizing the process purely top-down or in cooperation with civil society actors) but may also have important effects and represent relevant trade-offs. 10:15 10:35 Coffee break 10:35 11:20 Student presentation: Charlotte Wagenaar, Tilburg Institute of Governance Paper: Deliberation prospects in multi-option referendums Discussant: Sophie Devillers, Universiteit Brussel 11:20 12:05 Student presentation: Thomas Niederberger, University of Bern Paper: Democratic Innovations in the Peruvian Amazon: The Gobierno Territorial Autónomo de la Nación Wampis Discussant: Veronica Ramirez Montenegro, Institute of the Americas, UCL

2 12:05-12:50 Student presentation: Sophie Devillers, Vrydagh Julien, Min Reuchamps, Universiteit Brussel Paper: Coupling mini-publics to the complex governance: the case of the Education Reform in the Belgian French-Speaking community. Discussant: Dimitri Courant, University of Lausanne/ University Paris 8 12:50 14:10 Lunch Afternoon session: Institutionalization of Democratic Innovations The different dynamics of democratic innovation Moderator: Martha Sandoval 14:15 15:15 Key-note speech: Leonardo Avritzer, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil Title of presentation: The different dynamics of democratic innovation Abstract: Institutional innovation has become one of the key concepts of democratic theory (Almeida, 2015; J. Cohen, 1997; Dryzek, 2000, 2006; Elstub et al., 2016; Fischer, 2000; Goodin, 2005, 2008; Habermas, 1994; Geissel and Newton, 2012; Smith, 2009; Spada, 2013). The origins of institutional innovation are rooted in recent changes in contemporary Northern and Southern democracies. On the one hand, in old and consolidated democracies of the North, changes in public policy in areas such as housing, the environment and compensatory policies have generated innovations that have increased the level of citizen participation and produced more effective results (Fischer, 2000; Fung, 2007; Fung and Wright, 2003; Sintomer et al., 2008; Sirianni and Friedland, 2001). At the same time, the idea of experimenting with democratic design has acquired relevance through the proliferation of mini-publics (Fung, 2003; Parkinson, 2006; Parkinson and Manbridge, 2012; Smith, 2009). Mini-publics are small groups genuinely deliberative and representative enough to be genuinely democratic (Goodin and Dryzek, 2006, p.220). Because of their size minipublics have become experiments in democracy and in public policy. Thus, experimenting with democracy has become an important political aim in the agenda of old and consolidated democracies. Alongside institutional innovations in the North, democratization in Southern countries has provided parallel cases of institutional innovation in new democracies, particularly in Latin America (Annunziata, 2011; Avritzer, 2013; Avritzer and Ramos, 2016; Hevia and Isunza, 2010; Ramos and Faria, 2013; Seele and Peruzzotti, 2010). The Latin American cases, and particularly the Brazilian case, have one similarity with and one difference from the Northern cases. The similarity is that they are also strongly concentrated in policy (Cambraia, 2014; Pires, 2011) and connected to social movements in important areas such as healthcare and social assistance (Cunha and Almeida, 2016; Ramos and Faria, 2013). The difference is that they are connected with participatory mechanisms that are institutions in charge of producing decisions that are binding for the political system. The spread of institutional innovation in old, well-established democracies in the North, as well as in new democracies in the South, has made innovation a trendy phenomenon. Some experiences, such as participatory budgeting, have become world famous and are practised in all parts of the world (Allegretti, 2014; Sintomer, 2007, 2010). Other experiences, such as mini-publics, are practised from Australia to British Columbia (Warren and Pearse, 2008). Even in the legal system, innovation has been introduced but with

3 highly ambiguous results (Avritzer and Marona, 2017). Thus, the issue of widespread diffusion of innovation is: are there limits to the positive aspects of political and institutional innovations, or are innovations good per se? Because there are good reasons to promote innovation but also to stick with a democratic core of norms without which democracy itself may be endangered, the second question is: how can we learn to separate the positive from the negative elements of institutional innovation? In the presentation for the workshop Democratic innovation in theory and practice I will present the idea that there are different types of democratic innovation. I will argue that there are two types of innovation: political/democratic and administrative. In the field of political and democratic innovation there are those which involve broad changes in policy and those who are secluded forms of horizontal democracy insulated from the government and the political system. Most of the literature conflates the two and assumes that administrative innovation or top- down innovations can have democratizing effects. Political and administrative innovations became intertwined in Latin America and top down secluded innovation became the most common case of participatory budgeting outside Latin America. I understand political and democratic innovations as those that, through changes in design, give citizens the capacity to participate in policy elaboration and to benefit from the results of policy. I understand administrative and top down innovations in a different way: as self-contained and top-down changes in policy. There has been a sharp increase in both democratic innovations and administrative innovations in Southern democracies, in particular in those located in Latin America. The motive for the concentration of innovation in Latin America is the process of constitution-making that took place in the region after democratization (Avritzer et al., 2017). Constitution-making took place in Brazil (1988), Colombia (1991) and Bolivia (2009), among other countries. In the presentation I will develop a typology of participatory innovation and constitutional innovation based in the Latin American cases. 15:15 16:00 Student presentation: Dimitri Courant, University of Lausanne/ University Paris 8 Paper: The Irish Citizens Assemblies and the Future of Democratic Innovations 16:00 16:20 Coffee break Discussant: Charlotte Wagenaar, Tilburg Institute of Governance 16:20 17:05 Student presentation: Veronica Ramirez Montenegro, Institute of the Americas, UCL Paper: Participatory democracy, political systems, transformation and peace: The Colombian Case Discussant: Thomas Niederberger, University of Bern 19:00 Public Event: Democratic Innovations in Theory and Practice: Opportunities and Challenges University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 71, KOL-E-1 Apéro Day 2: Friday 7 December

4 Morning session: Diffusion of Democratic Innovations Moderator: Martha Sandoval 9:00-10:00 Key-note speech: Sofie Marien, Center for Political Science Research, KU Leuven. Title of presentation: Meeting Great Expectations Through Democratic Innovations? Abstract: In this presentation Sofie Marien will talk about the rise in democratic innovations. She will discuss several drivers of the societal demand for more participatory decision-making processes. Subsequently, she will discuss the effects of the use of participatory instruments such as referendums and citizen assemblies. In particular, these instruments are often proposed to address dissatisfaction with democratic functioning. But do more participatory decision-making processes lead to higher perceptions of democratic legitimacy? Are processes in which people participate more considered as more fair? Are decisions accepted more - even which they are unfavourable and highly contested? In sum, can democratic innovations meet the great expectations that are connected to them today? These questions will be discussed in this talk. 10:00 10:25 Coffee break 10: 25-11: 10 Student presentation: Pedro Prieto Martin, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex Paper: Catalysing urban e-governance through positive deviance amplification Discussant: Oliver Dlabac, University of Zurich 11:10 11:55 Student presentation: Gilles Pradeau, University of Westminster Paper: Mapping policy diffusion using network analysis for French participatory budgeting 12:00 13:10 Lunch Discussant: Vrydagh Julien, Universiteit Brussel Afternoon session: Effects of Democratic Innovations

5 Moderator: Yanina Welp 13:10 14:40 Dialogue with Practitioners Fernando Pindado: Participation Commissioner from Barcelona Diana Haag: Co-founder Engage South Africa Nenad Stojanovic: Project Leader- A non-populist theory of Direct Democracy Discussant: Adrienne Fichter, journalist of the Republik 14:40 15:25 Student presentation: Larissa Galdino, University of Campinas Paper: Open government in Sao Paulo: democracy in public policies Discussant: Malu Gatto 15:25 15: 45 Coffee break 15:45-16:30 Student presentation: Julien Vridagh, Universiteit Brussel Paper: Under what conditions do mini-publics exert a political impact? Discussant: Celine Colombo 16:30 17:00 Concluding remarks Martha Sandoval and Yanina Welp 18:00 20:00 Activity: Zurich s Powerful Women Tour Is it possible to drive away an army without spilling a drop of blood? That s exactly what the valiant women of Zurich did. Despite considerable resistance, they helped shape the development of Zurich over the centuries in the areas of science, culture and literature, as pioneers, politicians and advocates, or as powerful women by the sides of many a successful Zurich man. On this tour through the inner city, we visit places related to the work and accomplishments of renowned locals such as Adele Dutweiler, Franziska Dosenbach, Nadezhda Suslova, Johanna Spyri, Mileva Maric and many more. Switzerland needs strong women like these. Meeting Point: Zürich, in front of the Tourist Information at the main station 20:00 Dinner Wirtschaft Neumarkt Neumarkt Zürich