The consequences of participation: inclusion/exclusion dynamics in democratic innovations

Abstract

This panel grapples with the multifaceted implications for citizens who take part in participatory and deliberative democracy exercises, how designers and practitioners may (or may not) respond to exclusionary dynamics emerging from those processes, and how scholars do (or do not) account for the complexities of participants' lived experience. Democratic innovations scholarship is no stranger to questions of inclusion and exclusion. While participatory processes have been developed upon the normative foundation of including citizens in policy and politics, they have also been proven to do so only selectively, at best. Exclusionary dynamics, often subtle and overlooked, can undermine those very normative foundations, and also bring practical challenges to the praxis of democratic participation. Papers in this panel explore how those dynamics may come to occur, whether (and how) issues of design can improve inclusion or exacerbate exclusion, and delve into challenges in understanding and developing responses to problems with the purported inclusivity of democratic innovations. We invite scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts to join this critical conversation on an aspect that remains key to the very purpose of participatory and deliberative democracy.

Title	Details
From Innovation to Festivalisation? Idea and Practice of School Participatory Budgeting in Poland and Finland	View Paper Details
Intersectional Assemblages as a Democratic Practice	View Paper Details