The events of the past decade, from racial equity movements to pandemic response disparities, have placed diversity at the forefront of local governance. Cities are no longer judged solely on how well they manage budgets or deliver services, but on how fairly and inclusively they do so.
Even promising democratic innovations can frequently fall short because they fail to elevate the well-being of people in economically disadvantaged regions. What’s missing is a democratic system that is geographically integrated and institutionally enables collective decision-making in development, infrastructure, and investment.
Authentic public deliberation seldom happens in the official interactions between citizens and government in America today. But efforts to introduce deliberative discussions in official meetings sometimes meets resistance from political leaders and members of the public.
There is a growing excitement in the democracy field about the potential of citizens’ assemblies and the use of “mini-publics” to deliberate on important public issues. What could proponents of this innovative practice learn from the 30-year history of participatory budgeting?
