Published in New Age on Monday, 19 February 2018
SANEM ANNUAL ECONOMISTS’ CONFERENCE
Stronger deliberative democracy needed: speakers
Staff Correspondent
Experts on Sunday stressed on strengthening the practice of deliberative democracy in the country to increase citizen’s engagement in democratic decision-making amid bad shape in electoral democracy in the country.
At a roundtable discussion on reflections on citizens’ engagement in development processes, they also said that deliberative democracy would also expand the scope of participation of marginalised including poor and women in policy-making decisions by raising voices on their demands and rights.
A strong deliberative democracy would also ensure proper utilisation of resources in development project implementation process and accountability of public representatives through intensive monitoring of citizens, they added.
South Asian Network on Economic Modelling and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) of BRAC University jointly arranged the roundtable at the last day of the 3rd SANEM annual economists’ conference held at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka.
Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Rounaq Jahan said that deliberative democracy was not an alternative of electoral democracy rather the two approaches should go together toward deepening the democracy.
Deliberative democracy would not work if electoral democracy does not function properly as the latter controls everything including state power in the country, she said.
She said that marginalised people including poor and deprived groups should increase their participation in the process to get access to institutions, development and rights.
BIGD adjunct fellow Mirza M Hassan, while presenting a paper on institutionalising deliberative democracy and citizen engagement in patron-clientele settings, said that deliberative democracy was a talk based democratic decision-making where deliberation aims at a rationally motivated consensus.
‘Practice of deliberative democracy should be strengthened for participation of citizens in policy making process in context of worsening situation in electoral democracy in the country,’ he said.
Citizens could shift their positions, opinion or preferences to an issue in the process of deliberative democracy while the electoral democracy was rarely capable to address such shifting preferences of citizens, until the next election, he said.
Referring to the Ward Shabha of union parishad, Hassan said that it worked as a deliberative democratic forum as it arranged public meetings participated by the citizens of a particular ward in an union.
It was found that ward Shabha had become a popular site for voicing complaints and claiming rights and making UP leaders publicly accountable for their performances and unmet promises, he said.
Dhaka University development studies department professor Kazi Maruful Islam said that legitimacy deficit in electoral democracy distorted the process of deliberative democracy.
There were arrangements of public hearings at different stage of local government and administration but participants were allowed to talk only in alignment of ruling party position, he said.
BIGD executive director Sultan Hafeez Rahman said that both approaches should be run parallel.
In Bangladesh, one party was playing role mostly in everything at macro level to grassroots level instead of multi-party democracy, he said.
He said that deliberative democracy was also consistent with autocratic system where autocracy was practiced at national level and deliberative approach was followed at grassroots level.
BIGD senior research associates Syeda Salina Aziz and Sultan M Zakaria, among others, spoke at the session as panellists.