Participatory Democracy

Plenums In The Post-Yugoslav Space

April 22, 2025 Yavor Tarinski, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Organize! Community Assemblies, History, Participatory Democracy, Serbia

We see that in different temporal and spatial realities, in moments of social upheaval, that societies begin to move and self-organize. There is a common trait that often connects such experiences – the emergence of grassroots institutions that allow for direct participation of the citizenry. These reflect what CLR James has termed as universal sentiment towards direct democracy. Such democratic institutions emerged during the French Revolution in the form of sectional assemblies, in the heyday of the Haitian Revolution as organs of the people, in the early stages of the Russian Revolution as soviets, throughout the Spanish Revolution in the shape of popular committees.

Neighborhood Renewal By Germantown Residents, For Germantown Residents

March 1, 2025 Courtney Duchene, Next City. Create! Affordable Housing, Development, Participatory Democracy, Philadelphia

Jordan Parisse-Ferrarini has long been entrepreneurial. He learned it from his mother, who was quick to pick up a side hustle — starting a fruit stand, selling makeup door-to-door, selling kitchen products at markets — to help support her family when he was growing up in Mt. Airy and Germantown. So, it felt natural when, together with his mother and siblings, he founded a company focused on home repairs. They called it Handyman Wizards at first, then Ferrarini Kitchens, Baths and Interiors. A skilled carpenter, he got his electrician’s license, his realtor’s license, and then earned a construction management certificate.

Venezuelan People, Main Foundation Of The Revolutionary Process

February 1, 2025 Alejandra Garcia, Resumen English. Create! Communes, Infrastructure, Participatory Democracy, Venezuela

Venezuela is undergoing a period of profound social transformation, working toward the creation of a society focused on development, self-sustainability, independence, and sovereignty, all while navigating the challenges posed by foreign hostilities, coercive measures, and misinformation campaigns. In this process, community participation plays a crucial role, as it is the key to driving meaningful change and fostering a sustainable future. In this context, on Sunday, Venezuela will hold a historic election unlike any other in the world.

Historical Block Conference Proposals To Help Economic Transformation

November 17, 2024 María Eugenia Rodríguez, Orinoco Tribune. Create! Finance and the Economy, Participatory Democracy, Socialism, Transformation, Venezuela

The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reported that the proposals coming out of the Great Congress of the Bolivarian Historical Block will help in the construction of the economic transformation program that Venezuela requires. During her speech at the opening ceremony of the Congress, Thursday, November 15, at the Convention Center in Simón Bolívar Park in La Carlota, Caracas, the Venezuelan vice president also highlighted the over 100 proposals that had been submitted. “I welcome these more than 100 proposals that have been raised … because they will help us to build the economic transformation program that Venezuela needs, in order to become a powerful country,” she said.

How Cities Can Bring Some Humanity To The Criminal Legal System

October 26, 2024 Erica Perry, Next City. Create! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Democracy, Legal System, Participatory Democracy

Last month, the state of Missouri executed 55-year-old Marcellus Williams, who spent two decades in prison, despite prosecutors’ efforts to overturn his conviction for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle. The victim’s family and the St. Louis county prosecuting attorney’s office joined Williams’ family, faith leaders and thousands of community members in asking decision-makers to spare his life. But neither their pleas nor revelations of mishandled evidence and racially biased jury selection were enough to outweigh a legal system with disdain for human life. This pattern of unjust sentencing to death is true across America.

Municipalism, Economic Development, And Participatory Democracy

October 23, 2024 Austin Cole, Black Agenda Report. Create! Democracy, Organizing, Participatory Democracy

In this first part of the conversation, Nick lays out his thoughts on a large range of topics: definitions of economic development and how to think about expanding it to serve all people in a more holistic manner; the fallacy of jobs-only economic development programs and measurements; radical municipalism that can form and utilize people-centered institutions; what true participatory democracy might look like; how to make the public sector work for “the people” and why organizers should get involved in local/municipal governance ; and governing from a place of radical inclusiveness, collective wisdom, and a shared responsibility.

Assemblies Can ‘Make The Public A Formidable Force’

October 3, 2024 Ed Sykes, The Canary. Organize! Neoliberalism, Participatory Democracy, People's Assemblies, United Kingdom (UK)

Assemble is a group working to set up local assemblies around Britain. Its aim is for ordinary people to deliberate on important local, national, and international issues, and on the potential solutions to them. Then, delegates would come together at a House of the People. The launch of this house took place in August, and you can see the Canary‘s full, first-hand report on it here. On 23 September, Assemble spokesperson Maddison Wheeldon delivered a statement outside parliament. She highlighted “five urgent political priorities” that people around the country had decided on at the launch. Having stood as an independent candidate in Warrington North during the general election and organised a local assembly, she’s committed to helping ordinary people decide their own fate via assemblies.

Arizona’s Abortion Rights Showdown

August 18, 2024 Alexandra Jacobo, Nation of Change. Strategize! Abortion, Arizona, Participatory Democracy, Reproductive Rights

The fight for reproductive rights in Arizona has reached a critical turning point as Proposition 139, a proposed constitutional amendment to secure abortion rights, will be on the ballot this November. The initiative’s path to the ballot is marked by a record-breaking signature collection effort, reflecting widespread public support amid a national landscape of increasing restrictions on abortion access. Arizona has long been a battleground for abortion rights, with its laws reflecting the broader national struggle over reproductive health. The state’s history includes an 1864 territorial statute that banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, a law that was reinstated in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Camila Vergara’s Bold Vision For A Plebeian Constitutionalism

June 1, 2024 David Bollier. Create! Chile, oligarchy, Participatory Democracy, People's Assemblies

Systemic corruption is not about a few venal politicians who take bribes or bureaucrats who collude with wealthy corporations. It's about the systemic oligarchization of power within a general respect for the rule of law. Elites come to dominate the state political apparatus and warp the law to suit their interests and desires, betraying the promise of democracy. That's why plebeians must have explicit constitutional powers, says Vergara. In Systemic Corruption, Vergara opens up a new kind of conversation that I have never heard before in political circles or the news media. She proposes new types of constitutional power for plebeian institutions so that the interests of ordinary people will be baked into modern constitutional systems.

What If Non-Drivers Helped Plan Our Transportation Systems?

May 13, 2024 Anna Zivarts, Next City. Create! Disability Rights, Participatory Democracy, Roads, Transportation, Urban Design

In the fall of 2021, I was invited by Roger Millar, the head of the Washington State Department of Transportation, to speak to the board of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials at its annual meeting. Before the meeting, Secretary Millar explained that I’d be presenting to the heads of each state department of transportation, and I started to get nervous. I am not a civil engineer. I don’t have a degree in urban planning. I have never worked for a transit agency or department of transportation. What I had was my lifetime of experience as a disabled nondriver and stories from the hundreds of other nondrivers from every corner of Washington State.

‘National Popular Consultation’: Voters Choose State-Funded Projects

April 21, 2024 Ricardo Vaz, Venezuelanalysis. Create! Communes, Elections, Participatory Democracy, Venezuela

The Venezuelan people are called to the polls on Sunday, April 21, to decide on projects that will receive government support. The so-called “National Popular Consultation” will be held in 4,500 communal circuits spanning the entire Venezuelan territory. Each circuit is centered in a commune, an assembly-driven popular power organization. All citizens 15 and above are eligible to participate. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) will oversee the election in over 15,000 voting centers but without automatic voting machines.

In Chinatown, A Community Envisions Alternatives To Sixers Arena

February 6, 2024 Oscar Perry Abello, Next City. Create! Chinatown, Gentrification, Participatory Democracy, Philadelphia, Urban Design

Joy. While it’s been a contentious 18 months of protests, marching, and debating about a proposed new basketball arena in Philadelphia’s Center City, for at least one Saturday morning, an urban planning and design discussion about the proposed arena location brought some joy to the conversation. At the Center for Architecture in Philly, just a few blocks from the site of the proposed arena, about a hundred people gathered on Jan. 27 to brainstorm alternative uses for the site. The public workshop was organized by the Save Chinatown Coalition, an alliance of 245 organizations from Chinatown and around the city who oppose the new arena because they fear its proximity to Chinatown will disrupt and displace the community.

Our Planning Process Is Broken; Street Experiments Can Help

October 29, 2023 Jedwin Mok, Next City. Create! Participatory Democracy, Street Experiments, Transportation, Urban Planning

Everyone knows how it goes: A street redesign is proposed to calm traffic. Municipal planners and engineers study the project for years, producing reports detailing its importance for sustainability, congestion reduction and traffic safety. Despite this, the project faces massive backlash at community engagement events, with residents complaining about lost parking and increased congestion. In the end, local politicians cancel the redesign, citing a “lack of social acceptability.” This story is all too common in cities across the U.S. and Canada, and it’s not because of “car culture” or “a lack of advocacy.”

From Shrinking To Resilience – Lessons From The Latvian Rural Parliament

August 1, 2023 Mathieu Willard and Elena Ambühl, Resilience. Create! Latvia, Local Economy, Participatory Democracy, rural communities

The Latvian Rural Communities Parliament (LRCP) is held biennially with the aim of collaboratively discovering effective solutions and exploring new opportunities for rural development. Its primary focus is to foster cooperation among diverse stakeholders and identify challenges and priorities at the local, regional, national, and European levels. The Community Parliament operates on the principle of equal dialogue, bringing together approximately 300 individuals representing local and regional authorities, businesses, policymakers, academics, rural development experts, and enthusiasts.

Civic Innovation Is Flourishing In Cities Right Now

July 30, 2023 Hollie Russon Gilman and Grace Levin, Next City. Create! Governance, Participatory Democracy, Technology, Urban Planning

This summer, cities around the world are unveiling and expanding new tools and initiatives in the name of civic engagement and digital innovation. From Los Angeles to Lisbon, local governments are testing different models of outreach and participation with the promise of increasing trust and equity in civic processes and institutions. Ranging from online portals to citizen assemblies, the wave of experimentation in policy and design responds to historic levels of distrust and disengagement in government at all levels. The question remains whether these new tools deliver on their promises to effectively bring underrepresented communities into decision-making processes and increase transparency and equity in bureaucratic systems.

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