take hard decisions and build public trust
With 95 organizational members and 94 individual members across 55 countries and six continents, involving over 300 people, Democracy R&D is the largest global network dedicated to deliberative democracy and democratic innovation.
With outdated tools, eroding public trust and pressure for quick fixes, it’s hard for governments to make wise long-term decisions.
We empower diverse groups of citizens to reach informed judgements and share decisions with governments. We achieve this with deep democratic practices such as random selection (sortition) and deliberation. Anyone facing election cannot ignore public opinion. Our models offer something better: public judgment.
Our members have helped governments from the local to the global generate trust, understanding, and solutions to some of the most challenging problems. We’re bringing everyday people back into public decision making.
Digital innovations such as high-speed internet, artificial intelligence, smartphones and social media have dramatically changed the speed, intensity and nature of public communication. These innovations have many positive effects, but they also facilitate the spread of what is known as disinformation. This manipulated or false information makes many people feel uncertain and puts pressure on our democracy.
In partnership with the NGO Fundação Tide Setúbal, randomly selected citizens in a peripheral neighborhood of São Paulo made 12 recommendations about a new design for the main street, as the first implemented action of the “Plano de Bairro do Território Lapenna”. Besides the effectiveness of the deliberation process and achieving consensus on some critical issues for the community, our partners were impressed with the potential of mini-publics to engage ordinary citizens who had never participated in other civic initiatives.
During two weekends in September 2019, a diverse group of 160 randomly-selected Germans discussed how Germany can overcome declining voter turnout and dissatisfaction with politics – especially among low-income, and educationally disadvantaged citizens. Their 22 recommendations included complementing parliamentary systems with elements of citizens’ participation and direct democracy.
We are 189 organizations and individuals in 55 countries on 6 continents. And growing…
We are 189 organizations and individuals in 55 countries on 6 continents. And growing…
Learn from our members’ projects and experiences – as well as an inspiring list of books, videos and iconic articles.
We work with governments from the local to the global level. It all starts with a confidential conversation.
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