Civic Sanskriti: Mini-publics within the Republic

The date we gave ourselves the Constitution, is an occasion to celebrate our democracy, acknowledge its challenges, and consider how we might evolve further as a Republic

The date we gave ourselves the Constitution, is an occasion to celebrate our democracy, acknowledge its challenges, and consider how we might evolve further as a Republic.

HT Image

The word itself refers to the ‘common good’ rather than for ‘private profit’, when referring to the realm of public decision-making.

One promising development for improving democratic public decision-making is deliberative ‘mini-publics’ – temporary forums of ordinary people that help develop potential solutions on topics of concern. Deliberative mini-publics are taking place around the world for climate action, developing municipal budgets, constitutional reform processes, and even in India.

They could be convened in Pune and other cities too. People can get a chance to go beyond complaints, and become problem solvers contributing to policies and programmes for the ‘common good’.

‘Mini-publics’ can operate between the ‘public’, that is the entire body of citizens, and the government, of elected corporators and officials taking final decisions.

Multiple mini-publics may be convened in different localities or at city scale, on local civic and sustainability issues. The task for mini-publics is to consider information about the issue, weigh options, identify and prioritise actions.

Elected and municipal officials, NGOs and other experts may provide technical knowledge, good practice examples, inform about on-going municipal initiatives and public budget availability.

Universities and trusted civic groups could help facilitate the deliberation process as a neutral third party.

Such innovations for participatory planning are also recommended in government of India’s Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines.

Such approaches get people from different walks of life involved, bringing their varied knowledge and experience. With good facilitation, we can develop a shared and rich understanding about issues. Developing solutions together can also increase trust between stakeholders and help evolve partnerships for civic issues.

Villages are doing better than cities with gramsabhas already constituted for citizens’ deliberations. Shri Mohan Hirabai Hiralal shared his experiences from Mendha-Lekha village, Gadchiroli district that is practicing such deliberative democracy for years. He said that people already have the right to decide on issues that concern their lives, resources etc; this is on the first page of our Constitution. He suggests the decision-making forum should be different from the deliberation forum; the decision-making forum should occur after the issue is thoroughly explored and options for action developed.

A provision for Area Sabhas of residents exists in Maharahtra’s municipal law and awaits implementation. Another difficulty in cities is of assembling large groups. The electoral ward, the smallest unit of governance, is several thousand people. Mini-publics could help in the meantime as these can include more than residents and also address city-scale issues. Unlike the Area Sabha conceived of as a permanent institution of residents in the area, a mini-public can be an inclusive small group of about 50 people, randomly selected by lottery, for a few weeks or months.

The deliberations of an operating mini-public could be communicated to the city at large though the media. A suitable ‘Civic Tech’ app, a term for software for e-governance and connecting people to government, could help in communication between the forum and the public.

Mini-public deliberations must apply three principles: 1. Inclusive – of different views and people from different walks of life; 2. Deliberative – participants engage in respectful open dialogue on the range of views and information to develop recommendations and 3, Influence – formal governance processes must seriously consider and incorporate mini-public outputs in city plans and budgets.

Would mini-publics succeed? We can’t be sure they will, but there are reasons for optimism: first, a focused, well-intentioned process of a deliberation on a civic issue, bringing together expert knowledge and the everyday wisdom of ordinary citizens is likely to yield some good outcomes.

Second, ordinary citizens are not worried about being re-elected, so the solutions they develop may be more guided by longer-term sustainability than short-term populist options. How about convening mini-publics around Pune’s air quality, transport issues, river restoration, or climate resilience? They may help deepen and enrich our democracy.

Sanskriti Menon is senior programme director, Centre for Environment Education. She writes on urban sustainability and participatory governance. Views are personal. She can be reached at civic.sanskriti@gmail.com