I love this piece because I found your book such a revelation...My years of involvement in partisan politics as well as activism had left me depressed and despairing about democracy. Learning about "deliberative democracy" and how and where it's been put into practice has given me hope. Soon after reading "Democracy for Dummies?", I had the opportunity to participate in a citizens' assembly process (focussing on primary healthcare), hosted by Peter MacLeod of MASS LBP. It was a wonderful experience that left me hungry for more. It's amazing to find out what happens when we start really listening to each other and working to solve problems in a spirit of real cooperation -- I think we're all smarter than we realize.
Party finance reform is needed. Go back to the per vote subsidy, limit party donations to the annual membership fee, no more $1,500 a plate suppers, Lets be clear the current model produces parties whose sole purpose is Fund Raising.
Let’s be honest though about our capacity as a citizenry to truly delve deeply into policy proposals and platforms. Even if the ‘debate’ shifted to a three-four hour session of discussion around policy ideas, it would likely change little. A small number of people actively watch debates even for the one-two hours they run. And it would be unfair to criticize people too much for this considering how many of them are running constantly from work to home to children to elder care responsibilities.
In a better world we would be in a position where there was a tendency for traditional media to summarize and evaluate policy platforms presented by the parties. And this would be the focus of analysis post-debate rather than whose French gaffe was worse, whose awkward phrasing or whose devasting quip/retort was likely to have the biggest impact on polling. Media have always tended to claim they are analyzing policy platforms while doing almost anything but for fear someone might accuse them of being partisan. Just look back at the last US election where one saw charts purporting to contrast Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris’s housing programs where the former’s was a promise to deport 11 million people.
I really enjoyed your book's exploration of citizens' assemblies and it got me envisioning what that could look like in Canada. My favourite version so far: re-assign Senators to be responsible for facilitating citizens' assemblies across the country (Senate already has some geographic representation baked in, and feels like a better job for unelected officials); and replace the Senate in the Upper House with something resembling the AFN to facilitate real reconciliation and nation-to-nation relations. A guy can dream...
I love this piece because I found your book such a revelation...My years of involvement in partisan politics as well as activism had left me depressed and despairing about democracy. Learning about "deliberative democracy" and how and where it's been put into practice has given me hope. Soon after reading "Democracy for Dummies?", I had the opportunity to participate in a citizens' assembly process (focussing on primary healthcare), hosted by Peter MacLeod of MASS LBP. It was a wonderful experience that left me hungry for more. It's amazing to find out what happens when we start really listening to each other and working to solve problems in a spirit of real cooperation -- I think we're all smarter than we realize.
Party finance reform is needed. Go back to the per vote subsidy, limit party donations to the annual membership fee, no more $1,500 a plate suppers, Lets be clear the current model produces parties whose sole purpose is Fund Raising.
Let’s be honest though about our capacity as a citizenry to truly delve deeply into policy proposals and platforms. Even if the ‘debate’ shifted to a three-four hour session of discussion around policy ideas, it would likely change little. A small number of people actively watch debates even for the one-two hours they run. And it would be unfair to criticize people too much for this considering how many of them are running constantly from work to home to children to elder care responsibilities.
In a better world we would be in a position where there was a tendency for traditional media to summarize and evaluate policy platforms presented by the parties. And this would be the focus of analysis post-debate rather than whose French gaffe was worse, whose awkward phrasing or whose devasting quip/retort was likely to have the biggest impact on polling. Media have always tended to claim they are analyzing policy platforms while doing almost anything but for fear someone might accuse them of being partisan. Just look back at the last US election where one saw charts purporting to contrast Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris’s housing programs where the former’s was a promise to deport 11 million people.
Nice piece, even if it feels futile to you.
I like to say that if you want to build a better world, you must first know what it should look like.
I really enjoyed your book's exploration of citizens' assemblies and it got me envisioning what that could look like in Canada. My favourite version so far: re-assign Senators to be responsible for facilitating citizens' assemblies across the country (Senate already has some geographic representation baked in, and feels like a better job for unelected officials); and replace the Senate in the Upper House with something resembling the AFN to facilitate real reconciliation and nation-to-nation relations. A guy can dream...
I can't and don't watch debates for the reasons you give.
“partisan theatre” is absolutely right.