Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Working Group: report

Recommends how the Scottish Government's ambition for change can be delivered to make Scotland’s democracy more participative and inclusive, and proposes next steps as it incorporates processes for participatory and deliberative democracy into the democratic system.


About the IPDD Working Group

The Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (IPDD) Working Group was convened in summer 2021.

The Working Group's objectives were:

  • Define participatory and deliberative processes, including (but not limited to) Citizens' Assemblies
  • Define standards, values and principles for their use
  • Set out the aims, benefits and risks of using participatory and deliberative processes
  • Identify methods of governance for delivering credible and trustworthy participatory and deliberative processes
  • Set out for Ministers options for their routine use
  • Provide an indication of the resources necessary (both within public services and in the wider community) to establish and deliver these routinely and sustainably

Workshops were designed and run, and outputs were collated into a report, by Kelly McBride.

The Group membership comprises relevant academics and practitioners, drawn together for their specific expertise on participatory democracy, deliberative methods, and the Scottish participatory context:

  • Gillian Baxendine, Head of Participation and Communities Team, Scottish Parliament
  • Simon Cameron, Chief Officer, Employers Team, COSLA
  • Claudia Chwalisz, Head of Democratic Innovation, OECD
  • Yves Dejaegher, Executive Director, Federation for Innovation in Democracy Europe
  • Steven Elstub, Reader in Politics, Newcastle University
  • Oliver Escobar, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the University of Edinburgh; Academic Lead on Democratic Innovation at the Edinburgh Futures Institute; and Co-director of CRITIQUE (Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought).
  • Zoe Ferguson, Independent consultant
  • Fiona Garven, Director, Scottish Community Development Centre
  • Angus Hardie, Director, Scottish Community Alliance
  • Kelly McBride, Deliberative Democracy Lead, TPX Impact
  • Jonathan Moskovic, Democratic Innovation Adviser, Francophone Brussels Parliament
  • Alan Renwick, Professor of Democratic Politics and Director of The Constitution Unit, UCL
  • Kaela Scott, Head of Democratic Innovation - Scotland, Involve
  • David Schecter, Democracy R&D Network Coordinator
  • Alistair Stoddart, Senior Participation Specialist, Scottish Parliament
  • Graham Smith, Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster
  • Willie Sullivan, Scotland Director, Electoral Reform Society
  • Talat Yaqoob, Independent equalities expert and consultant
  • Anthony Zacharzewski, President and Director-General, Democratic Society

Scottish Government Officials:

  • Doreen Grove, Head of Open Government
  • Amy Watson, Principal Research Officer, Open Government
  • Susie Townend, Head of Secretariat, Scotland's Climate Assembly (SCA)
  • Ruth Mattock, Climate Assembly secretariat
  • David Reilly, Participatory Budgeting Lead, Community Empowerment
  • Niamh Webster, Digital Communications
  • Eleanor Snape, Digital Communications
  • Jen Swan, Digital Communications
  • Nick Bland, strategic lead, research and evaluation of CAoS and SCA
  • Paul Gorman, Empowered Children and Young People – Programme Lead

Contact

Email: doreen.grove@gov.scot

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