Nothing about us without us
Suggestions for action
During the consultation process for the Manifesto, we asked people to suggest actions or innovations that could get democracy to work better for sustainable development, or sustainability. We’ve divided up peoples’ responses in line with the six themes of the Democracy and Sustainability Platform that make up the Manifesto Principles.
On this page, you can read through peoples’ ideas for action to ensure that the interests of all people affected by public decisions are taken into account.
We hope that whether you agree with the ideas or not, they get you thinking about what might be needed. We’d like these ideas to inspire you as you plan your own actions to implement the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability.
You can read more here about the Manifesto consultation process, who was involved, and how.
The big picture
As reflected in the UN Charter democratic legitimacy resides in the pooling of individual’s sovereign collectively. The exercise of it is therefore at family, community, religious, states and internationally – though of course states do have a particular prominence (UK)
We need leaders who can listen, not push their own agendas: people who are more facilitators. Leadership is a flexible thing… We need more teachers of consensus decision-making skills (UK)
Find ways to provide for the symbolic participation of nature, plants or animals in decisions: for example, earthworms and birds could be ‘present’ in discussions about agriculture (UK)
One person, one vote. Everyone entitled to vote (excluding children), including prisoners [NB: in the UK convicted prisoners are not permitted to vote] (UK)
The community level
More community organizing with “occupy” style dynamics to represent up the government scale (Canada)
The Transition Town movement (UK)
People shouldn’t stand for election based on self-selection. Communities should look out for people and invite them to stand (UK)
Institutional and procedural innovations
The best knowledge and practice in public deliberation, negotiation and scenario planning in experimenting with new forms of assembly, summits, local forums etc (UK)
The Local Government Unit of Naga City of the Region V (Bicol Region) here in the Philippines have legislated an ordinance ordering the creation of a People’s Council that will serve as the representative of different multi-sectoral groups in the city council which serves as the legislative body of the local government unit. Thus, giving the voiceless and the most marginalized to air…their concerns and needs and have them concretely addressed by the government through ordinances which become the legal basis of action of the local government unit (Philippines)
In a town in Germany where I used to study was a round-table established that is called DialogN (N for the German word of sustainability). Something like that should be set up for community development by the side of the local government (Germany)
Leaders to hold public meetings after they are elected maybe twice a year in their constituency. A bit like a party conference, but public (UK)
Reuniones periodicos de los representantes con los electors (Spain)
El estado actúa como gestor y no como decisor (desarrollo a escala humana). Se hace una política local, y la política estatal la harían ciudadanos que son elegidos aleatoriamente [random] y que asesorados por expertos, ayudan a la gestión del estado. Estos puestos políticos cambiarían cada 4 años (Spain)
Online participation
Online communication and social media can facilitate exploration in community organizing (Canada)
Let’s embrace more of the social media and online platforms for sharing. These should [implement] a skills share and learning mission that brings together various stakeholders from across the continent to share experience and strengthen networks (Kenya)
Global democracy
Support for a World (or UN) Parliamentary Assembly should be made explicit (USA)
Strengthening global democracy: by ensuring that the world’s citizens are not only heard but actively participate in agenda-setting and decision-making at the level of the UN and international institutions that deal with global commons and other matters that concern the interest of humanity as a whole. One means to achieve this could be the establishment of a popularly elected global parliamentary assembly (Germany)
Deberia haber un parlamento de Mercosur (Argentina)
One of the most important step[s] to give people a voice at the global level could be the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations. This project is supported by a broad international network by over 800 Members of Parliament, 300 non-governmental organizations and over 4,900 individuals from more than 150 countries – the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (www.unpacampaign.org) (www.kdun.org). Such a new body could be considered essential for the development of global democracy. It could achieve important functions from the beginning:
- give citizens for the first time in history a direct voice at the global level
- express the idea of mankind as one community and a common responsibility of mankind for this planet
- develop a new consciousness of world citizenship – complementary with the familiar national citizenship
- operate as a junction at the UN System between the national parliaments, citizens and NGOs
- reinforcing democratisation in the countries of the world and supranational organisation
- address important world problems publicly and help to develop efficient and democratic procedures of global decision-making -strengthen multilateral effort to overcome the paralysis of the present state-centric system and foster global welfare -become a catalyst for advanced reforms of the UN and the international system
- initiate a process to develop itself step by step into a real World Parliament
Such an Assembly would not need the difficult process of a revision of the UN Charter. It could be created as a consultative body under Article 22 through a vote of the General Assembly. At first it could be composed of delegates from the national parliaments under a schedule of ‘weighted voting’ but later the delegates could become elected directly by the citizens of the world..” (Germany)
A permanent form of indigenous people to be created in the five UN regional commissions and in every national and provincial assembly, with youth parliaments in all countries tasked with collaborating with these earth custodians (India/US)
Formal equality of voting power, somewhere between one-person-one-vote and one-country-one vote (unlike IMF/WB “economic weighting”), e.g. votes proportional to square root of population; Representation through a constituency system (cf IMF/WB Executive Boards) to allow decision-making bodies small enough to be effective (contrast IMF/WB Executive Boards and Security Council with WTO, UN General Assembly and IMF/WB Boards of Governors); BUT with effective accountability to constituents (unlike IMF/WB); Accountability to Parliaments, not governments; Transparency of decision-making (documents published well before consideration; web-casts + published transcripts of discussions; recorded votes, etc); All decision-making processes should be conducted through formal institutions observing these principles (unlike WTO ‘Ministerial’, ‘Mini-Ministerial’ and ‘Green Room’ meetings, and ‘Confessionals’); Long-term: consider a global Parliament (with internationally supervised/conducted elections as condition for participation?) (Netherlands)
Other resources
The Give Your Vote campaign for ‘borderless democracy’, which encourages UK voters to vote as proxies for people in other countries
Ideas for democratizing transnational decision making (including the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly
Manifesto for Global Democracy
Guide to techniques to support People and Participation by Involve (UK)
Including living beings in decision-making: the Council of All Beings
The Community Bill of Rights – a local law to elevate communities + nature above corporate rights (proposed by Occupy Law UK). “Basis: all power is inherent in the people, government gets its authority from people. As well as communities asserting their rights like right to self government, local economy, sustainable food system etc, also places restrictions on corporate legal privileges & gives power to people to revoke corporate personhood where a company proposes to do something harmful in the community (eg fracking). People come first, not corporate (UK)
Voice and Choice: Opening the Door to Environmental Democracy
A Seat at the Table: Including the Poor in Development and Environment Decision-making
One Response to “Suggestions for action”
Comment on this to Rick Orser
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I am a member of World Federalist Movement Canada, Vancouver Branch and support your initiative. I agree that Democracy & Sustainability are critically important for human survival, but in the name of – balance – two other important terms are needed, those being Prosperity & Security. Democracy, Sustainability, Prosperity and Security are like four legs of a table that are needed in order to provide the nourishment required for all humanity to survive and be happy. See my website at http://buildingutopia.ca/ in support of the campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA). Thank-you, Rick Orser, Vancouver Canada.