Reclaiming our right to power: some conditions for deliberative democracy

This paper reflects on the questions of how and under what conditions can the democratic potential of Deliberative and Inclusionary Processes (DIPs) be enlarged to include more people and more places. The author concludes that enabling government policies, organizational change and professional reorientation are all necessary preconditions for the widespread use for DIPs in all aspects of life. However, through an analysis of where and how power is exercised, the author suggests that rather than merely attempt to institutionalize and expand DIPs in the realm of politics, the key issue should be widening economic democracy. This would result in mutually reinforcing and radical structural reforms; some such reforms are proposed by the author and include the notion of a unconditional citizen income for all, a more equal balance between waged and non-waged labour and combining subsistence and market economies.