Complementary Democracy : The Art of Deliberative Listening

Democracy is on the run, and elected governments are suffering from a legitimacy crisis.

Legislatures are increasingly seen as unrepresentative.

To give legitimacy to democratic government, experts argue that we need more democracy and more opportunities for direct citizen participation.

Representative democracy needs to be complemented by forms of direct engagement, such as referendums, popular votes, the recall, citizens’ juries, eDemocracy, etc.

This is what we term Complementary Democracy. In this book experts from the worlds of practice and theory come together to explain – and occasionally critique – these complements to representative democracy.

The volume provides an invaluable starting point for anyone who wants to know more about the new directions of democratic governance, and hopes to inspire those who seek to build stronger democracies.