Occupy invites deliberation
Changes in the functioning of government and business will emerge only indirectly from the Occupy movement. What Occupy can achieve directly is a demonstration that people can self-organise to deliberate responsibly and competently and express the diversity of public values to various policy generation processes. They can insist that public judgement be inserted constructively where it is absent today.
With the day-to-day involvement of everyday people, decisions can be made differently and the excesses of power can be kept in check.
In Melbourne, if Mayor Doyle came out tomorrow and announced the immediate formation of a Residents’ Panel, drawn randomly from the population like a jury with a provision for periodic refresh, to advise Council about its bylaw enactment and regulation, Occupy could claim a victory.
If the corporate watchdog ASIC similarly announced a perpetual public jury that had real teeth and transparency, I wouldn’t stop jumping for joy.
This is an opportunity to mainstream “deliberative democracy”.
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