Latest news with #Citizen'sAssembly
Newsroom
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsroom
Random people with real power
In 2022, 40 Aucklanders met over five weekends to make a huge decision – how to provide enough drinking water for our biggest city for the next 20 years. These 40 people weren't engineers or hydrologists, planners, or even environmentalists. They were a bunch of randomly selected non-experts: young and old, different nationalities and from all walks of life. And they were there to learn and deliberate and finally make recommendations – to the experts. Listen to the podcast This was New Zealand's first official 'Citizen's Assembly', although the concept – and the way the participants were chosen – dates back to the Ecclesia, the general assembly of Ancient Athens, 2500 years ago. And, spoiler alert, the process worked. Watercare, Auckland's 100 percent council-owned water company, has already commissioned a pilot plant to produce drinking water from the group's preferred option – recycled waste water. Still, when you first hear about random people being entrusted with gnarly political and social decisions, it does sound a bit bonkers. Chris Allen, head of strategic planning for Watercare, Auckland's water supplier, admits he was pretty sceptical when he first heard about the idea. 'I did think it was a bit crazy, because it's taken me 20 years to get to where I am to understand the problem, and I found it difficult to believe that in a much, much shorter period of time, lay people would be able to distill the complications of the work and and come up with a solution everybody could live with.' But as he sat and watched, they did just that. 'It was amazing how quickly they changed from understanding almost nothing to discussing complicated concepts and being quite comfortable talking with each other and with the experts. And much as I hate to say it, they were able to refute and challenge some of the comments the experts were throwing out there.' But why do it at all? Allen says there's a major benefit from a potentially controversial recommendation (making drinking water out of water which might have come from your toilet) coming from a Citizen's Assembly, not from the company: credibility. 'I think the answer of everybody who is in deliberative democracy is that we need more democracy, not less, but we may need a different kind of democracy' Dr Tatjana Buklijas 'As experts, often we will look at all the information, assimilate it, and come up with what we think is the best option for the community. And then we go to the community and say, 'This is what we've done', and they will say, 'Well, how do we know that what you've done was the right thing? We haven't seen any of the background. You're just telling us that that's the right thing. Why should we believe you?' 'The citizens' assembly gave us the mandate to explore, seriously explore, how purified recycled water fits into the water sources available for the Auckland region.' Globally over recent years, citizens' Aasemblies have been used for even more grunty topics – ones the politicians find it hard to touch: abortion reform, for example (Ireland in 2016-2017), and climate change mitigation (France in 2019). The University of Auckland's Matheson Russell, an associate professor in social and political philosophy, and an expert in new models of citizen-led policymaking, says it turns out lay people, regardless of their levels of education and knowledge, are pretty good at making complex decisions – if they are given the chance. 'We typically don't find ourselves in the settings where we're asked to do that kind of work. So if we're asked to vote in a referendum or an election, we don't always have the resources we need in order to make an informed decision. With an election [or a referendum] we know three million other people are also voting, so our vote is not going to count for very much. So there aren't strong incentives to do our homework. 'Whereas, if you're in a citizens' assembly, you're one of several dozen, maybe 50-100, people. You know your contribution matters, and you have the time and the space and the resources to do that job well. And people do.' Citizens' assemblies are part of a movement come to be known as 'deliberative democracy' – where small numbers of people 'deliberate' and come up with a painstakingly considered decision. Jury trials are perhaps the best-known example. But of course deliberative democracy has been happening right here in Aotearoa – and among indigenous people in other parts of the world – for hundreds, if not thousands of years, as Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua), professor of Māori studies at the University of Auckland, knows all too well. 'Māori decision-making is determined by our legal system and our legal system is tikanga, and tikanga is about getting things right. So if there is any issue you must involve everybody who has an interest. Auckland University professor of Māori studies Margaret Mutu. Photo: Supplied 'So you call them all together, usually on a marae, and you make sure everybody has all the information that you have been able to collect so far, and that everybody has a say who needs to. And once you've collected everything you sit down and make a decision.' It can be a slow process, and it's one that often drives Pākehā crazy, she says. 'You just keep talking and keep talking because what you are always aiming for is a decision by consensus and if people are unsettled or don't understand you have to keep going until everybody is settled, until everybody understands and then once you've got that it becomes a decision of the people – literally of the people.' Mutu is familiar with both tikanga and the Pākehā democratic systems – her mum was Scottish, her dad Māori. But increasingly her research and her experience is leading her to question the western, representative democratic model. 'In terms of tikanga, the parliamentary system makes no sense at all because the people who are supposed to look after the wellbeing of this country spend their whole time fighting each other, instead of sitting down and trying to work out what is the best for everybody.' Dr Tatjana Buklijas, a senior research fellow at the University of Auckland and the foremost expert on citizens assemblies in New Zealand, agrees representative democracy often doesn't achieve vital change when it needs to – climate change is a perfect example. There's a temptation for some, she says, to wonder if enlightened authoritarian governments might be a better solution. But that's totally wrong, she says. 'I think the answer of everybody who is in deliberative democracy is that we need more democracy, not less, but we may need a different kind of democracy.'
Irish Independent
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Government ‘clearly doesn't trust Dubliners' as vote stalls on directly elected mayor
Green Party councillor Oisín O'Connor is calling for Dublin TDs to 'step up to the mark' and give Dubliners the chance to have a 'greater say' in how the city is run. 'The Government needs to put the question to a public vote,' he said. 'It should be up to the people of Dublin to decide if we want to have a more direct input on the future of our city by directly electing a Mayor of Dublin. 'Government ministers from across Ireland don't trust us, Dubliners, to make decisions about our own city. 'They're trying to distract us with sensationalist sound bites about how irresponsible Dublin voters could be if given the chance to directly elect a mayor with real powers and resources to improve our city. 'Are Dublin TDs of government parties going to stay quiet while their party leaders hold back our capital city for fear of a Dublin Mayor showing them up?' he added. Cllr O'Connor referenced the Citizen's Assembly, chaired by former Dublin GAA football manager Jim Gavin, which recommended a directly elected Lord Mayor who would be accountable, with mechanisms for removal if necessary. 'This is not just about the position of the Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin - this is about reforming local government across our capital city to bring decisions closer to the people,' Cllr O'Connor said. 'The Dublin Citizens Assembly published its report two and a half years ago, making 18 recommendations on how the government should roll out a Directly Elected Mayor and broader local government reform, giving more power to councillors and the new Mayor on housing, childcare, infrastructure and transport.' The Green Party is calling on the government to bring forward plans without delay, and publish the details of what powers they propose the Directly Elected Mayor would take charge of. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more They are asking for a wide information campaign about the proposed changes and demanding a date be set for Dubliners to vote on a directly elected Lord Mayor. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman TD highlighted that the 2025 Programme for Government has less focus on Directly Elected Mayors than the 2020 programme negotiated by the Green Party. 'It's clear the sounds from government are that they're no longer truly committed to devolving power to local government in this country, rolling back on a commitment given by the previous government to give all local authorities the option to introduce a Directly Elected Mayor for their area,' he said. Catherine Stocker, a Social Democrats councillor, is also advocating for a directly elected Lord Mayor of Dublin with real powers to address the city's challenges in housing, transport, climate, healthcare, and more. She's bringing a motion to Dublin City Council, urging the government to act on the recommendations of a 2022 Citizens' Assembly. Cllr Stocker argues that current local government structures are 'too limited' and Dublin needs a strong, accountable leader who can create and implement a vision for the city, like mayors in London or Paris. A spokesperson for The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said: 'The Programme for Government commits to the establishment of a Local Democracy Taskforce to finalise a programme for the reform and strengthening of local government. 'The membership of the Taskforce will include Local Authority elected member representative bodies, Local Authority executive representatives, the National Oversight and Audit Commission, the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage and a number of independent experts. 'The Terms of Reference for the Taskforce are currently under development in the Department and these will have due regard to the commitments in the Programme for Government. 'Following further consideration and input from key stakeholders, they will be brought to Government for approval, and the first meeting of the Taskforce will take place as soon as possible afterwards. 'The 2022 Dublin Citizens' Assembly was asked to consider the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin. Its final report was presented to the then Taoiseach in January 2023. 'In June 2023, the Houses of the Oireachtas referred the report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for consideration of its recommendations and the Committee reported back in December 2023. 'The Citizens' Assembly Report proposed the holding of a plebiscite on the question of a Dublin Mayor. 'While supporting such an approach, the Committee's Report recommended that a plebiscite be held only after a General Scheme of a Bill for a Dublin Mayor was developed, so that there is full clarity on the detail of the proposal. 'The Programme for Government commits to supporting the office of the Directly Elected Mayor of Limerick and considering further plebiscites in Dublin and other cities. 'The Dublin Citizens' Assembly report and recommendations, and the Committee's Report, are under consideration by the Department,' they added.
