Demo Talks

Embark on a transformative learning experience with our 10 masterclasses, guiding you from theoretical foundations to practical insights in deliberative processes.

Access recordings and supporting materials on our website and YouTube channel.

Open to all, these classes empower a diverse global audience.

*Successfully complete tests for 80% of them, and you’ll earn a Certificate of Participation. Also, don’t overlook our captivating Demo.Talks – they’re a must!

master class 2

Barriers to deliberative democracy I - Structural factors.

Objective of this master class: This class aims to identify the structural factors that present themselves as barriers to deliberative democracy.

Professor:
Maria Paulina Ibarra

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1. In which of the following moments are structural barriers to deliberative democracy most evident?

All of the above.

When the design of the mechanisms does not contemplate diversity and there is no political will to promote and guarantee inclusion

Cuando lo normativo no se traduce en espacios reales de participación.

2. Who is responsible for addressing the structural barriers to deliberative democracy?

Those responsible for resolving these structural barriers, and reducing the obstacles to deliberative democracy, are state agents. Without excuses and by the power vested in them, they have within their reach to act to reduce the impediments to deliberation.

Civil society organizations representing communities in conditions of vulnerability in spaces of representative democracy.

Private sector and academia interested in collaborative governance models.

3. Which of the following statements can be considered structural barriers to deliberative democracy?

Geographic, infrastructure (connectivity, digital divide), ethnic and gender-based barriers.

Economic resources and technical know-how of government entities and their officials.

Spaces for the leveling of asymmetries based on empathy with the community.

master class 3

Barriers to deliberative democracy II - Functional factors.

Objective of this master class: Discuss how and what functional barriers manifest themselves in deliberative mini-publics as obstacles to participation. And, consider how they can be addressed in the design and implementation of deliberative mini-publics.

Professor:
Susan Lee

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1. What are the most common selection criteria in citizen deliberation processes?

Age, sex, race, educational level and territorial location.

All the above

Aspects such as the stratification of attitudes and knowledge regarding the topic to be deliberated.

2. What knowledge should the citizens who participate in the deliberation spaces have?

Citizens are not required to have any prior knowledge of the subject matter in question. The citizens’ assemblies themselves are based on both normative and practical ideals around diversity.

The deliberation should be a closed process where only people with expertise in the subject matter discuss on the basis of solid arguments.

They must have prior knowledge or interest in the subject to be deliberated in order to participate with technical arguments in the discussion.

3. What knowledge do the facilitators who lead the deliberation spaces need to have?

Facilitators presuppose participants’ decisions and influence their behaviors and deliberations.

Basic knowledge and practices such as maintaining mutual understanding and respect among participants and avoiding harsh confrontations.

Technical knowledge and in-depth knowledge of the issues to be discussed.

master class 4

Principles of deliberative democracy I - ¿Quién participa? inclusión mediante sorteo cívico.

Objective of this master class: In this class we are going to delve into who participates, who are the actors who participate and what citizenship participates. And to do that we are going to look at a key concept, which is the civic lottery.

Professor:
Yago Bermejo

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1. How to mitigate the risk of fewer people attending than originally invited to the participation space without affecting the descriptive representation of the draw?

All of the above.

To make a constant follow-up and training process with the citizens before the deliberation space

If someone, at the last moment or the day before, tells you that they are not going to come, you have to try to replace them that day with a person with a similar profile who is in the queue and who has been part of the same civic lottery, so that ideally, the day of the event should arrive with practically no casualties.

2. Which of the following statements is false?

The civic lottery is a democratic innovation that has only been tested in countries of the global north.

The civic lottery seeks that the people who participate are not related to the topic or do not have to have a special interest in this topic.

The self-selected participation is very biased, that is, the people who come to this kind of participatory events by public call, are people who usually have a certain affinity with the government that calls for the initiative.

3. Participation by lottery improves trust between the State and the citizenry because:

It is a group of people who are representative of the population and who are people like those who live on your street, it could well be your grandmother, your aunt or your friend.

Legitimize democratic decision making to deal with public affairs, which is not only to discuss, but also to decide, to offer visions or recommendations that the government can make its own.

All of the above.

master class 5

Principles of deliberative democracy II - Consensus and decision making.

Professor:
Claudia Chwalisz

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1. What kind of decisions can be made in the deliberation spaces?

Only matters related to the public interest that do not require a high level of technical knowledge on the part of the citizenry should be debated.

The issues that are submitted for deliberation by the public are generally short-term issues with immediate effects.

Issues that may appear technical on the surface are ultimately political issues, underpinned by moral and values dilemmas that require deliberation to collectively weigh evidence, listen to one another, and to find common ground

2. Deliberative processes can also help engender support for public decisions amongst the wider public, as people are more likely to trust a decision that has been informed by ordinary people?

False

True

3. What is the point of talking about consensus in deliberative democracy?

Finding common ground is a defining feature of deliberation. It is what distinguishes deliberation from dialogue: the need to reach shared decisions.

Within deliberative processes, the aim is to work towards consensus through voting procedures.

Within citizen deliberation the results are an aggregation of top-of-mind opinions of different individuals, which are often ill informed (for example, when a survey is conducted or an online public consultation acts as a call for feedback, etc.).

master class 6

Deliberation and participatory democracy in Latin America

Professor:
Yanina Welp

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1. According to the teacher, different instruments of citizen participation can be combined. Which of the following corresponds to an instrument of citizen participation?

All of the above.

Popular consultation, plebiscite and referendum.

Protests, marches and citizen demonstrations.

2. Which of the following statements is false?

Latin America has been a pioneering region in the introduction and development of mechanisms for citizen participation, some of them very novel, as is well known in the case of participatory budgeting.

Direct democracies are oriented to allow citizens to vote on issues of interest, while deliberative democracies are fundamentally oriented to the exchange of arguments and positions to lead either to decision making or to the offer of solutions to improve the quality, for example, of public policies.

Deliberation does NOT occupy a fundamental place in participatory democracy, since the rise of experiences at the local level are neither incident nor significant.

3. Who convenes the processes of direct democracy in Latin America?

A minority group or political elite that seeks to legitimize its power through the instrumentalization of citizen participation.

On the one hand, there are the obligatory mechanisms, that which the constitution or the law establishes as obligatory. A second type of procedure is that of activation, which is called from above. Here again there is a big difference between what an activation by the legislative power with a determined majority can do. And the third procedure is that of the way of signature collection. In these cases, the citizenry can gather signatures and there are 2 modalities: proactive and reactive.

Only the citizenry can call for a legitimate and transparent direct democratic process.

master class 7

Democratic Innovations in the Global South

Objective of this master class: Provide an introduction to the key concepts and institutions of the field of Democratic Innovations. To deepen its application in the Global South. Reflect on the powers and challenges of democratic innovations as tools to combat the problems facing situated democracies.

Professor: Azucena Morán

Professor: Melisa Ross

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1. What do we need to consider before implementing deliberative forums in the Global South?

Consideration should be given to the institutional and financial resources available to reach populations outside large urban areas, and with recurrent challenges such as inflation, informality, and insecurity.

All of the above.

Territories where the state does not have a monopoly on violence or is systematically absent as part of immiseration or extraction agendas should be considered.

2. What is democratic innovation according to an expansive definition?

Spaces for reflection on the meanings of democracy.

Spaces for citizen participation that give legitimacy to decisions made by government representatives.

Spaces to disrupt established modes of governance and create spaces for systemic transformations through citizen participation.

3. How can citizens become involved in the governance of their territories?

Through deliberative spaces specially designed by governments for decision-making.

There are different forms of citizen participation, such as intermediation, self-organization and community mobilization, political militancy, digital participation, as well as different institutionalized forms of deliberation.

Citizens can become affiliated to a political party.

At the beginning of each month we are sending out our ON.Reset, where you will find three sections:
1. How we are doing (findings and current project agenda).
2. What’s coming up (what are our next events).
3. Recommendations of the month (three articles that will contribute to the knowledge).

master class 1

Origin, principles and relevance of deliberative democracy

master class 2

Barriers to deliberative democracy I - Structural factors.

master class 3

Barriers to deliberative democracy II - Functional factors.

master class 4

Principles of deliberative democracy I - ¿Quién participa? inclusión mediante sorteo cívico.

master class 5

Principles of deliberative democracy II - Consensus and decision making.

master class 6

Deliberation and participatory democracy in Latin America

master class 7

Democratic Innovations in the Global South

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Yanina Welp

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