Inclusive Democracy: How to Make Participatory Democracy More Inclusive of Marginalized Communities especially women, youth, and displaced people?
Participatory and deliberative democracy are often viewed as tools to complement representative institutions, by empowering people to collaborate with governments in decision-making processes that affect their lives. In practice, however, are these approaches genuinely shifting power and engaging broader communities in decision-making?
Organizations and governments frequently struggle to engage marginalized communities. Even with efforts like sortition to ensure representative participation, structural barriers such as power dynamics and contextual factors persist, hindering effective and meaningful involvement. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental shift in process design to make inclusivity the default.
Join our webinar to hear the latest innovations in inclusive democracy and new resources to help governments, funders, and civil society support more inclusive democratic practices.
Date: June 4
Time: 10–11:30 AM ET / 4–5:30 PM ET
Speakers: to be announced soon
Flow: 1 hour of panel discussion, followed by 30 minutes of optional breakout rooms with speakers
Discussion topics
Why is inclusion important when designing participatory programs?
What are the strategies to overcome challenges faced by civil society organizations?
What are some examples of inclusion in participation for women, indigenous, internally displaced people, youth, and elderly persons? What are some examples from Zimbabwe, Mexico, and Basque Country, and beyond?
How do we support inclusion at a larger scale and sustainably? How should funders and organizations invest time and resources in ways that lead to systemic change?
Meet our speakers
Hear from a diverse panel of speakers engaged on the issues of inclusive democracy. Our speakers include:
Blair Glencorse, Co-CEO of the Accountability Lab, United States
Elisa Peter, Fund Director at Civitates, France
Enrique Bravo-Escobar Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), United States
Frank Mphalo, Executive Director at Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust, Zimbabwe
Maria Solar, Social Connection Coordinator at Ollin, Mexico
Miren Martiarena Barkaiztegi, Director of Open Government, OGP Basque Country
Luiza Jardim, Program Associate at People Powered, Brazil (Moderator)
At the one-hour mark, you can join a breakout room to interact directly with speakers. Register now for this engaging discussion on June 4.
This event is part of a series of learning webinars by People Powered, Open Government Partnership, and Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative.
