Ideally at the very local level, every single opportunity for a citizen to have a voice should be explored, including coming up with trials to see if people's deliberations are more effective than those of the elected ones. It means that citizens' fora that in the past already existed in the country should again be brought to existence
With all attention given to fixing the dates of the upcoming local and national elections, perhaps, it is high time we dared to think differently, beyond the usual liberal democracy model based on representative democracy.
Do not get me wrong.
The government must decide at the earliest on the dates of the elections, following the prescriptions provided by the constitution.
Yet at the same time, it would be interesting to think about other ways to reinforce democratic practice in the country.
I am thinking about, on the one hand, finding practical ways to fix the holes in the constitution, giving political parties and their leaders less leeway to change or, in some cases, manipulate the constitutional process. Democracies are always a work on construction. It will be impossible to get the perfect framework that relies on enhancing the political culture needed to make the democratic process work smoothly and, most importantly, effectively.
On the other hand, another way that, perhaps, the country should consider is one focused on deliberative practices that would boost democracy from the bottom.
The American political scientist, Jane Mansbridge, came up in 2015 with a minimal definition of deliberation, a dynamic that "comprises two way communication which involves the weighing and reflecting on preferences, values and interests on matters of common concern". John Dryzek, another key proposer of deliberative democracy explains that "democracy cannot do without deliberation".
At this point you might wonder what all this is about. In short, deliberative democracy is an area of study and practice that enable citizens to participate and engage in the political process by focusing on people's opinions and judgements on different arrays of common public interest.
There are several ways to do it, by creating ad hoc citizens' assemblies where the participants gather in order to discuss and finally deliberate on taking binding decisions.
This latter aspect, the deliberative power of such institutions, is not always guaranteed, and oftentimes this essential aspect ends up in being just recommendations for the elected officers.
Imagine discussing a new road that could cut short the travel time but could come at a very expensive price environmentally because the construction works would cause the felling of trees and disruption of the eco-system.
Imagine deciding on how to allocate a portion of the educational budget at its disposal by the local government.
It is a practice normally called participatory budget.
Should, for example, some new classrooms be built or should instead the money be used to provide scholarships for the most vulnerable children? Does it really make sense that only the elected officials or the School Management Committee decide? Deliberative democracy would offer a real opportunity for people to express their opinions and then decide on such important issues.
In the best scenario, people would find a way to reach consensus or, in the worst case, they would vote if the road is really in the best interest of the community or if new classrooms are more important than scholarships.
The good thing is that, while the entire framework of deliberative democracy has been devised and studied in western liberal democracies, a country like Nepal is already rich in such practices. Probably the reader might not find anything extraordinary in the two case studies mentioned above because the country is already extremely well versed in local deliberations.
Village life throughout the nation, after all, has been so much reliant on people's will to come together and find common solutions. These grassroots dynamics, perhaps, could even be found in the western countries a long time ago but have now dried out. The same could happen in Nepal as well.
That's why traditions that practically belong to the people's DNA here must be protected and maintained for the future.
Within the field of deliberative democracy, there are a lot of disagreements and contested notions, but the good thing is that a number of scholars are emerging also from regions with traditions and cultures different from the West. In short, what was invented in the so-called South and then conceptualised in the North, is slowly being developed in those places where deliberations have always found a very fertile ground.
Yet in practice what would this discussion around deliberation mean? How can deliberative mechanisms, centred on the people rather than on the elected, strengthen the system already in place? Ideally at the very local level, every single opportunity for a citizen to participate and have a voice should be explored, including coming up with trials to see if people's deliberations are more effective than those of the elected ones. It means that citizens' fora that in the past already existed in the country, even if not in a codified manner, should again be brought to existence and not just through occasional or ad hoc initiatives as is happening now in the West.
More realistically, it means finding new ways to complement and strengthen people's voices on how local affairs are run. It is not about chipping away the power of the elected officers but truly re-thinking the meanings of democracy, offering new pathways for people to get engaged and involved.
Perhaps, the same concept itself of delegation of powers that is at the heart of liberal democracy should be seen more as an exception rather than a rule. For sure, people, regardless of their education levels or income, can contribute.
I am not naïve, and deliberative democracy is not going to be a cakewalk as it initially might appear.
Certainly more established and protected forms of deliberative practices in Nepal would fortify the political culture of the country and perhaps, one day, reach such levels to be able to influence national politics.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 4, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
