We are curating a thought leadership series about opportunities for participatory and deliberative processes in a shifting political landscape following the 2024 general election.
This will inevitably be a time of change — and we want to take this chance to think about some of the key issues, tensions and arguments that surround deliberative and participatory democracy in the UK and beyond.
📖 Read our sixth blog, titled: ‘To rebuild trust, the Labour government has to start trusting the public to be part of making decisions’, Involve Director of Advocacy and Communications, Calum Green, puts forward that rebuilding trust starts by the government choosing to trust the public.
The UK experienced far-right racist riots in late July/early August sparked by the fatal stabbing of three girls at a dance class in Southport. Anti-racist rallies were organised to counter these far right riots, demonstrating larger numbers of support for Muslim, refugees/asylum-seeking, immigrant and racially minoritised communities across the UK.
However, the long-term impact of the far-right riots on these communities cannot be ignored or minimised in the coming weeks and months. These riots have unsettled communities and reignited generational traumas experienced by our elders in the 1960s and 1970s. There is still a continued sense of hypervigilance within our communities. Some media commentators have referred to the government's need to address the rioters' fears and anxieties and have discussed their concerns around immigration as legitimate. Scholars like Mondon and Winter remind us that legitimising these concerns ignores how "the people" or "the public" are imagined and how the 'will of the people' is manipulated for reactionary ends. This manipulation ignores the fact that there are many white people, including working class people, who do not succumb to far right propaganda. A 2021 research study showed that 73% of people in the UK who took part in the study think the media often makes the country feel more divided than it is, and 44% believe politicians invent or exaggerate culture wars as a political tactic.
These far right riots present an opportunity for the Labour government to tackle the root causes of the far right riots, which include racism and a lack of economic opportunities for working class communities (white working class and racially minoritised) across the UK. The government must not fall back on racist and exclusionary policies as a response to these riots. In addition, the government cannot rely on assumptions that if it delivers on economic opportunities, it can stem the rise of the far right, nor can it ignore racism at play. Instead, I put forward that there is scope for the government to use participatory and deliberative democratic methods to chart a way forward in the wake of these riots by working with a constitution of the public most affected to create and implement policies that seek to deal with the underlying causes of the riots.
The Citizens' White Paper discussed the recipe for such participatory policymaking in the UK. In the context of the far right riots, two tensions immediately come to mind when using participatory and deliberative methods: who constitutes "the public" in particular, how is inclusion considered, and what topics should the public be deliberating on. Firstly, reflecting on inclusion, Tocqueville, one of the earliest thinkers on democracy, asks that we pay attention to whom power is willingly or unwillingly shared. Paying attention to power goes beyond the inclusion of communities that have been historically excluded from democracy. Rather, it encourages reflection on how power and privilege function in ways that exclude certain topics from being deliberated in these spaces.
Participatory and deliberative methods are not commonly used for polarising issues where issues of race and racism are centred, such as immigration. However, a citizens' jury on economic migration points to the possibilities for tackling a polarised issue. I am particularly interested in the potential of participatory and deliberative methods that policymakers can use to do democracy differently, challenge the far right as a legitimate alternative, and build trust across communities. For example, the recommendations from a citizens' assembly on racism in the UK can provide a thoughtful representation of the will of 'the people', which is also likely to be a much more hopeful alternative to the fear and hate that is driving the far right. Keir Starmer' said in his king's speech at the State Opening of Parliament in July that "the fight for trust is the battle that defines our political era". One way to build trust is to share power with the most deprived and underserved communities. Building trust will look like listening to and implementing recommendations from the public participants engaged in participatory and deliberative policymaking.
I now turn to one specific area of opportunity to illustrate where participatory and deliberative methods can be used instrumentally by the Labour government. Many of the rioters, including those charged, were young people. The system has failed working class young people, both white and racially minoritised young people, because of the unjust political decisions in the economic choices made by governments. However, racially minoritised young people carry the greater burden of these decisions due to racism. Furthermore, racially minoritised communities have not always experienced governments as benevolent forces in their lives when you look at policy decisions in several domains, including policing and welfare.
As the Labour government plans to fulfil its manifesto pledges that directly impact young people, participatory and deliberative methods involving young people's experiences will be crucial to its success. One promise is to create a new Young Futures programme with a network of youth hubs reaching every community. These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers on hand to support young people's mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime. There is an overrepresentation of white and racially minoritised young people in the criminal justice system, and having their experience in the design and implementation of this programme can increase its effectiveness.
Another promise of the manifesto is to break down the barriers to opportunities through various strategies, such as modernising the school curriculum and introducing the Race Equality Act. In turning these promises into policy, the government can convene citizens' assemblies comprising white and racially minioritised working class young people seeking to make recommendations.
I suggest three potential topics for deliberation within carefully curated and trauma-informed spaces with expert facilitators. In these spaces, it is important that white and racially minoritised working class interests are not pitted against each other but to find solidarity in the struggles each group faces. Firstly, the assembly can discuss alternative preventative and restorative approaches to justice that will positively impact their lives. Secondly, the assembly could deliberate on how the legacies of empire, colonialism, and anti-racism can be embedded into the school curriculum to prevent the radicalisation of young people into the far right agenda. Lastly, the assembly could also consider whether to extend institutions' safeguarding duty of care to protect racially minoritised children and young people from the harm of racism as part of its Racial Equality Act.
Given the place-based nature of the riots, these citizens' assemblies should also be place-based and devolved as part of pushing power to communities. Thus, providing political opportunities for the participation of communities and places that previous governments have left behind.
Using participatory and deliberative methods for such conversations is no light work. Let us be brave and resolute in trying to confront race and class injustices to build the type of society we want to live in and the one we want our children and young people to inherit.