Published May 20, 2023, 4:20 a.m. by Arrik Motley
It is no secret that trust in politics is at an all-time low. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that only 19% of Americans say they can trust the government always or most of the time. This is a stunningly low number, and it’s only getting lower.
So how can we restore trust in politics? The first step is to recognize the problem. We can’t trust what we can’t see, and right now we can’t see what our politicians are doing. We need more transparency in government, so that we can see what our elected officials are up to.
One way to increase transparency is to require politicians to disclose their financial interests. We need to know who is funding their campaigns and what interests they might have in legislation. We also need to make sure that politicians are held accountable for their actions. If they lie or cheat, they should be punished.
We can also restore trust in politics by making it more participatory. We need to give people a greater say in how their government is run. This can be done through things like referendums and recall elections. We need to make sure that people feel like they have a stake in the political process.
Finally, we need to reform the way we elect our leaders. The current system, in which a few hundred thousand people decide who our president will be, is clearly broken. We need to move to a system of ranked-choice voting, in which everyone’s vote is counted and everyone has a say.
These are just a few ideas on how to restore trust in politics. It’s up to us to make sure that our elected officials are held accountable and that we have a say in how our government is run. Only then can we hope to fix the broken system that we have today.
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democracy is facing a crisis of trust
this is a fraud on the american public
and populations are increasingly
polarized
so could the answer be to reboot an
ancient idea
we can change the nature of the
relationship between citizens and
politicians
shirley islam is helping to shape the
future of scotland
from her garden in glasgow she is part
of a radical but simple project
which brings ordinary people closer to
the political decision-making process
shirley is a member of a citizens
assembly
a group of around a hundred people
picked at random but designed to be a
cross section of scottish society
the help of experts and facilitators the
group is tasked with discussing pressing
issues
and passing their recommendations onto
the scottish government
the main aim is to come up with a vision
statement
to make scotland better first of all the
conversation guidelines
so you will all have a copy of those
brought to your table
that's something to think about when
thinking about how you can redesign and
improve the scottish tax system
members have met in person four times
since 2019
and are now gathering online during the
pandemic
so far they've considered reform of drug
laws and taxing wealth
to create a greener economy we as a
country want to try out a new way of
doing politics
doing things differently through
informed and respectful dialogue
citizens assemblies are part of what is
known as deliberative democracy
matthew taylor is a leading global
advocate he has advised two former
british prime ministers
and he argues this kind of political
engagement
could be the key to reversing the
decline of trust in politicians
the fundamental issue of trust is only
going to be overcome if we can change
the nature
of the relationship between citizens and
politicians
i'm being heard i actually do have an
avenue
to ask the right questions that are
important
to make scotland better the way in which
deliberation
increases the confidence of its
participants increases their respect for
people with different opinions and tends
to make them feel
more responsible for making sure the
world is a better place these are
wonderful
characteristics and a million miles away
from representative democracy that tends
to make people feel
more disempowered more angry and less
sympathetic to people who have to make
difficult decisions
such gatherings could be an antidote to
the increasingly polarized political
climate
the adversarial nature of representative
democracy
politicians shouting at each other
caricaturing each other dodgy dave will
answer it
now evading questions
pandering to their own increasingly
unrepresentative grassroots
it's ugly
if you look at a deliberative process a
process in which ordinary citizens are
sitting around
a table listening to each other properly
facilitated
openly questioning their starting point
going on a journey reaching a different
view
and nearly always being able to find
consensus it's a process that makes us
feel good
about ourselves many people feel they
have little influence in the political
process
deliberative democracy could give voters
an edge
our job effectively is once every four
or five years
to vote in an election to kick the
rascals out if we think that they
should be kicked out and then we retreat
back into our daily lives and wait for
the next time we're asked to come and
vote
that's a very passive role for a citizen
and what citizens need
more of is more voice in between
elections
citizens assemblies are nothing new
they're an ancient greek idea
coming back into vogue over the past 10
years
the oecd has recorded a notable increase
in the number of deliberative processes
among member countries and the eu
and there is evidence that this is
succeeding in giving people more
influence over policies made by
politicians
of 55 cases analyzed by the oecd
three-quarters of public authorities
implemented over half of the
recommendations made by citizens
in just over a third of cases they
implemented all of them
the issues that you will discuss in over
the coming months
are beyond party politics
one country is often cited as the poster
child of this democratic innovation
in politics island's widely acclaimed
citizens assembly on abortion
legislation
formed in 2016 is considered to have
helped
its largely catholic citizens find
common ground on a highly polarizing
issue
after hearing from 25 experts and
reviewing 300 submissions from members
of the public and interest groups
87 of people on the assembly agreed
island's abortion laws were unfit
the government subsequently agreed to
the recommendation of a national
referendum
two-thirds of the electorate voted in
favor of abortion rights
[Applause]
the citizens assembly held the hands of
the politicians
galvanized them encouraged them because
what politicians admitted to was
they were listening to the voice of
ordinary informed ordinary citizens
and if that was what ordinary citizens
felt needed to be done
then they were prepared to go down that
road too yet citizens assemblies
are not a silver bullet for troubled
liberal democracies
some processes have been criticized for
not fairly representing the population
at large
and the biggest challenge to more
meaningful change in future
remains the reluctance of politicians to
embrace this model of democracy on a
broader scale
advocates say that unless politicians
actually accept the idea of
relinquishing some more powers
there is a risk of further public
disenchantment
when i worked in government i tried to
convince
tony blair and then gordon brown's team
to do it
and i had initially enthusiasm for it
until the point at which i pointed out
to them they couldn't control the
outcome of the process
i think when politicians hear about
deliberation they often think it's about
them giving up power
i'd say to them the biggest constraint
on your power as a ruling politician
right now
is the public doesn't trust you actually
deliberation will give you
more power because real power lies in
having citizens on board
[Applause]
this is only going to really shift the
dial if
politicians demonstrate over and over
again that these
processes do have an influence on the
policy outcomes
i hope we've reached a stage of a kind
of tipping point now where the question
is not
will deliberative democracy become a
more
intrinsic part of our democratic systems
but when and how
[Music]
hi i'm emma hogan deputy briefings
editor at the economist
if you'd like to learn more about
citizens assemblies then please click
the link to my article opposite
and if you'd like to watch more now on
next series then please click the other
link
thank you very much for watching and
please don't forget to subscribe
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