Authors: Casey Vander Ploeg, Peter McCormick, and David Elton
In the 1990s, consultation with business, stakeholders and the public has become a virtual prerequisite for any government proceeding with a major policy initiative.
Recently, a new method of citizen consultation has emerged. This approach, called deliberative democracy, marries three types of traditional public consultation mechanisms – the public opinion poll, the policy conference and the policy roundtable. By using these three methods in tandem, deliberative democracy avoids the pitfalls inherent in each while at the same time combining their unique strengths. Under the best of circumstances, deliberative democracy allows us to place the square peg of large population and mass society into the round hole of direct democratic participation.
What results is face to face communication, invaluable exchanges of information and ideas, a broader understanding of varying human circumstances and priorities, and a much deeper level of compromise and understanding. Meaningful Consultation undertakes to educate on the new consultation process of deliberative democracy and why this approach could be beneficial to Canadians.