Participatory Democracy Elevates Society - Five Historical Examples

by Hank Pellissier

Participatory Democracy (similar to Pure Democracy, Direct Democracy, Pure Democracy) creates a government that is truly “of the people, by the people, for the people” because it delivers decision-making power directly to the citizenry. This eliminates the easily-corruptible political class that controls administration in a representational democracy.

In Representative Democracy, power resides in the hands of a tiny elite cabal that’s consistently manipulated by puppet-masters - wealthy donors, massive corporations and special interest groups. The bulk of the populace is only permitted to exert influence every 2-4 years in elections that allow them to ‘select their rulers.’

Conversely, Participatory Democracy provides straightforward and consistent power to the people via numerous methods: citizen assemblies (town halls), participatory budgeting, participatory policy-making, citizen juries, initiatives, propositions, referendums, online open discussion forums, legislative theater, and multiple other methods emerging via new technology.

Does a society thrive - cheerfully, culturally, and economically - when everyone is fully allowed a seat at the government table? YES, is the definitive answer. This is easily proven, because every historical example of participatory democracy in action has produced remarkable gains in metrics of civic happiness.

Below are five examples:

THE PARIS COMMUNE

In 1871, revolutionary masses rose up in Paris to toss out the authoritarian regime of Napoleon III. It was replaced by a democratic socialist system was installed that lasted a glorious 72 days, until it was brutally slaughtered by the French army.

The “Communards” divided the city into 20 largely-autonomous districts. Decisions were made in large assemblies that offered everyone equal freedom to speak and vote on all issues. The districts enacted numerous progressive reforms that upended traditional hierarchies: they abolished the death penalty, child labor, accrual of interest on debts, military conscription, and night work in bakeries; they confiscated church property and used it to establish secular schools; they put a moratorium on rents, they gave women the right to divorce, foreigners were granted citizenship, and wage equality between men and women was advanced; they opened up the Louvre to the public (it was previously the private museum of royalty); they prohibited employers from fining their workers as a disciplinary measure, and they allowed workers to take over a business if an owner abandoned it.

The mood in Paris was tremendously uplifted by participatory democracy’s adoption of these radical reforms. One observer noted:

Paris was filled with people going to theater, concerts, museums, listening to street corner speeches, reading books and the many newspapers that stuffed the news racks. The working class was bursting with life, ideas, and enthusiasm! And all this was happening in a city surrounded by a hostile army and under constant siege.

Another witness claimed:

“During [the Commune’s] short reign, not a single man, woman, child, or old person was hungry, or cold, or homeless… It was amazing to see how with only tiny resources, this government not only fought a horrible war for two months, but chased famine from the hearths of the huge population which had had no work for a year. That was one of the miracles of a true democracy.”

anarcho-syndicalism during the Spanish Civil War

In 1936, participatory democracy thrived again in Catalonia and Aragon during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war, via the activities of the 1.55 million members of the anarcho-syndicalist Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Hundreds of autonomous cooperatives of peasants and workers reached decisions in mass assemblies (1,000 people or more) held weekly with everyone allowed equal speaking and voting rights.

Progressive policies emerged quickly from this system of decision-making. Dozens of alternative schools and storefront community centers (for debates, cultural events, and literacy classes) were established; police were replaced by civilian patrols; criminal cases were defended by non-lawyers; nursing home workers were employed based on compassion; and homes of the wealthy were expropriated and used as hospitals (within a year Barcelona had 18 hospitals, 17 sanatoriums, 22 day clinics, 6 psychiatric hospitals and a large tuberculosis facility).

Most importantly, the working class assumed management of paper factories, textile mills, transport, power and water companies, shipping, mines, furniture stores, perfumeries, food processing plants, theaters, newspapers, department stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, breweries, lumber operations, farms, vegetable markets, the milk trade, etc, etc, etc. In Barcelona over 3,000 enterprises were voluntarily collectivized (owned and self-managed by workers).

What was the result of this radical experiment? Did every convenience of civilization fall apart? No, quite the opposite. Decisions made by participatory democracy led to higher productivity, lower prices, better working conditions, and increased efficiency. In Barcelona’s transport system the number of passengers increased dramatically, allowing young and old to travel freely, with profits remaining the same. The workweek for certain occupations was reduced to 35 hours a week, with retirement age lowered to 60.

Many villages attained free access to health care, dental care, and optical care with free glasses. In Aragon, the village of Calanda abolished money and provided food, housing, building repairs, gas, electricity, water, medical care, and education for free. Women’s rights were also elevated at this time - the organization Mujeres Libres (Free Women) had over 30,000 members. This led to abortion being legalized and women centers opening that welcomed unmarried mothers and prostitutes.

What was the public mood? George Orwell in his Homage to Catalonia described it as a

“jubilant atmosphere…the normal motives of civilized life–snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc.–had simply ceased to exist… there was a belief in the revolution and the future, a feeling of having suddenly emerged into an era of equality and freedom. Human beings were trying to behave as human beings and not as cogs in the capitalist machine.”

Kerala state (India)

Kerala state is a narrow strip of land on the subcontinent’s southwest coast populated by 32 million inhabitants, that is efficiently decentralized into thousands of panchayats (communities), wards, municipalities, and corporations that operate with near-total autonomy using highly democratic activities such as participatory budgeting (this allows the citizenry to determine their own expenditures).

Additionally, Kerala volunteers - up to 300,000 - enthusiastically participate in working committees, empowerment training, district councils, and developmental seminars, that are all capable of influencing regional policies. Not surprisingly, the most illiterate, landless, and needy groups were more likely to attend meetings, to advocate for their group’s access to resources.

What’s the result of this bottom-up planning and policy implementation? Kerala’s inclusion of women, the poor, and lower caste marginalized groups in decision-making processes elevated their social status far higher than other regions of India. Farmers and workers immensely improved their productivity and quality of services, and rural areas are now “open defecation free.” The influence of women has been significantly uplifted because 50% of leadership positions are set apart for them. (Kerala now has one of the lowest birth rates in the nation).

Additionally, Kerala is one of the least corruptible states because the increase in transparency and social accountability makes it less vulnerable to domination by powerful factions, and it now has 93.91% literacy due to establishing thousands of libraries in even the smallest villages. Kerala also boasts a high Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, equal to many European nations.

The high-functioning participatory governance of Kerala was fully displayed when Covid-19 broke out. Daily media briefs were delivered, and the panchayats organized more than 300,000 volunteers in less than a month to work in emergency capacities, such as providing food and physical assistance to the aged, disabled, and homeless, during lockdown. Hundreds of community kitchens were established, providing 280,000 packaged free meals to the needy at their doorstep. The largest women’s group (Kudumbashree) - quickly sewed hundreds of thousands of face masks at its 306 tailoring businesses, plus they provided government interest-free loans to needy families.

Kerala is simultaneously the Indian leader in participatory democracy, and the leader in life expectancy, quality of education, sustainable development, and lowest poverty rate.

ROJAVA (northeast Syria)

Rojava contains about 5 million people; it is predominately Kurdish but is thoroughly inclusive of other ethnicities: Arab, Syrian, Aramean, Turkmen, Armenian, Chechens, Assyrian. Its governance is based on the writings of their long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, who’s been deeply influenced by US philosopher Murray Bookchin, the anarchist/municipalist/communalist author of Social Ecology.

Grassroots, bottom-up, anti-centrist, radical participatory democracy guides the governance of Rojava’s citizenry. The smallest self-governing units are communes, composed of only 300 people, approximately 40 households in a neighborhood. Every commune has two co-presidents (one male, one female) and 5-6 different committees, and is tasked with making local decisions (preferably via consensus) like garbage collection, distribution of resources, and settlement of disputes. The 4,000 communes are organized into larger groups of people’s councils, district councils, and ultimately three cantons - Cizre, Kobane, and Afrin - that are governed entirely separately from each other.

Four primary accomplishments of Rojava are its success in women’s rights, military defense, religious tolerance, and ecological sustainability. Its emancipation of women has been ground-breaking, surpassing not only Islamic neighbors, but the majority of the developed world. Rojavan law criminalized child marriage, forced marriage, honor killings, dowry, polygamy, and Rojavan women have veto power in all women’s issues. Dual leadership of men and women extends even to military roles - women fight in every Rojavan military force and co-direct as generals.

The city of Kobane astounded the world in 2015 when it heroically repulsed weeks of attack from ISIS, and Rojava is presently battling, and surviving, Turkish bombings and incursions. Additionally, Rojava’s participatory democracy seeks to provide universal housing, healthcare, childcare and education; it defends worker’s right, controls food and fuel prices, and finds jobs for the poor and underemployed.

Rojava arguably offers more political power per person than any of the previously-mentioned democracies, because its 300-member neighborhood units are far smaller than the 1,000+ voters in Paris Commune assemblies, Catalonia syndicates, and Kerala wards and panchayats. Every person’s voice can be heard in the Mesopotamia attempt at political utopia.

Porto Alegre, Brazil - Participatory Budgeting

Porto Alegre is a city of 1.5 million in a southern state of Brazil. After the Worker’s Party was victorious in the municipal election it initiated a successful “participatory budgeting” policy in 1989 that was subsequently duplicated in more than 3,000 governments around the world. More than 20 assemblies were opened to the public to debate budget items, and delegates were elected to serve on budget councils.

How did the hoi polloi prioritize civic expenditures? The number of schools quadrupled; public housing leaped in three years from 1,700 units to 27,000 units; sewer and water connections jumped from 75% of households to a near-universal 98%; and the health and education budget skyrocketed in 11 years from 13% to 40%. Conversely, a proposal to build a 5-star hotel was REJECTED.

How did this change the city? One observer noted Porto Alegre ended up spending:

“…the bulk of its investment budget on making the city’s poor neighborhoods fit to live in… 9,000 Porto Alegran families, who 12 years ago lived in shacks, now have brick housing.... Nearly the whole population—99 percent—has treated water; and the sewage system covers 86 percent of the city, compared with 46 percent in 1989. Over 50 schools have been built in the past ten years and truancy has fallen from 9 percent to less than 1 percent. The number of students going on to university doubled from 1989 to 1995... The report concludes that the participatory budget has functioned as a powerful instrument of the redistribution of wealth.”

Conclusion

The five examples I presented above all inspired immediate economic and social improvements. I believe every nation that seeks to move forward with egalitarian reforms, should first implement measures that broaden control of political power.