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.