CAfSA News no. 4 May 2025
Welcome to our latest CAfSA News. The team is very focused on the June 14 conference, and right now is trying to get the word out far and wide that it’s happening! Any forwarding or onward posting or sharing you can do would be helpful! We have created a Facebook Event which we encourage you to share.
International
UK
Birmingham Museum recently ran a citizen assembly to gather public ideas about its future. In a series of now very familiar testimonials, citizens reported feeling ‘more involved’, becoming ‘an active citizen through this process’, and learning ‘to take on board people’s opinions and listen to people’. One said, ‘it’s made a huge difference to me!’
The Democracy Next newsletter reported on this, saying: ‘Staff were visibly moved by what the citizens said, and by seeing a group of people who arrived as strangers – to each other, and to the inner workings of the museums – leave as passionate and knowledgeable advocates for their museums.’
US
Following severe cuts under Trump, the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) reports it is unable to access previously approved funds, and that ‘it has no clarity about the future.’ That’s a big step backwards for deliberative democracy in the US.
Germany
In June 2024, the Hamburg State Parliament passed a Random Participation Act that defines what is known as ‘deliberative democracy’. This serves to ‘identify interests and possible solutions from the population on a specific topic or project’. The law also allows the Hamburg authorities to use residents’ ‘registration data’ to randomly approach citizens when assembling mini-publics for deliberation (https://www.buergerrat.de/en/news).
On 15-17 October Brussels will host the 2025 forum of Democracy R&D, the world’s largest global network for deliberative democracy and democratic innovation. This year’s organisers G1000, Missions Publiques, Federation for Innovation in Democracy – Europe and Democratic Society have given the conference the title ‘Democracy at the Crossroads’.
Australia
Tim Dunlop is a firm advocate of deliberative democracy, and his commentary is always worthwhile. See him here on the election. While the outcome was a huge ALP win, the Libs steering their preferences to the ALP also delivered a triumph for the 2-party system that has served us so poorly for so long.
Former SA Premier Jay Weatherill continues to champion deliberative democracy – see this new 5 min video clip. Meanwhile work continues apace on preparations for the June 14 conference in Adelaide, ‘Citizen Assemblies – Policy without Politics’, and the June 15 workshop for local government.
An award-winning writer, columnist, critic, academic, broadcaster, public intellectual and former political candidate. Dr Elizabeth Farrelly is trained in architecture and philosophy.
Emma Fletcher is Co-CEO of Australia’s leading deliberative democracy company – democracyCo. In this role she designs, and project manages large and complex engagement projects.
Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics is a widely published policy economist, entrepreneur and commentator. He has advised Cabinet Ministers, sat on Australia’s Productivity Commission and founded Lateral Economics and Peach Financial.