Democracy within People & Planet
At People & Planet we are committed to improving democracy through wider and deeper network participation in our decision-making and organisational direction. The Forum 2006 provided a great opportunity for groups to share some ideas on how we can do this, and there have been other steps taken in recent years to look at strengthening democracy within P&P.
A Democracy Working Group was convened between March 2004 and March 2005 and resulted in changes to some of our existing structures, such as the separation of the roles of Regional Reps and the network members of the Management Committee. Read a summary of the Democracy Working Group’s proposals.
Oxford University P&P group produced Where Now? Democracy and Direction in People & Planet for the Forum 2006 discussing a number of issues, in particular enhancing democracy. Staff met to discuss structures for moving these ideas forward, and we would be keen to get further network input on these issues. You can comment in the box at the bottom of this page, email us or discuss the ideas further on Oxford P&P group’s web forum.
Suggested framework for moving forward
‘Democracy’ can be a hotly contested term as different groups and individuals attribute various values to its many aspects. With the aim of coming up with practical ways in which we can move forward, we decided to put these issues to one side for staff discussion and came up with some innovative methods for improving our current processes for participatory democracy. In order to focus discussion, we employed 5 principles suggested in Power to the People, the report of an Independent Inquiry into Britain’s democracy commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Recommendation 23 of the report lists 5 principles by which public bodies can increase participation in their decision and policy-making processes. Below are the 5 principles, what P&P does now, and some practical ways in which we could go further to meet them. Tell us what you think. We will update this when we implement changes.
Principle |
What we do now |
Ideas for what we could do |
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Influence- Some measure of real influence over final decisions, not necessarily the final say but a clear indication that views have affected decisions taken. |
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Feedback- An explanation of how views were taken into account. Without this participants often conclude that consultations are a cosmetic exercise |
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Deliberation- The creation of a structured space in which participants and staff can interact face-to-face on equal terms. This ensures that participants can appreciate the wider context of decisions made and appreciate different perspectives |
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Information- Participants must have equal access to all sources of information. Effort must be put into ensuring this information is in a range of formats and styles so that it is accessible for all |
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Independence- Exercises in public involvement work best when faciliated by external bodies to avoid manipulation, although this can be costly. |
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