The Future of Governance: Reimagining Democracy for a New Era
Prof Robert Costanza
In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, the traditional models of governance are facing unprecedented challenges. Citizens worldwide feel their voices are not being heard, leading to a significant decline in trust in public institutions. The latest 2024 OECD Trust Survey reveals that over half (53%) of respondents believe the political system does not allow people like them to have a say, and 44% have low or no trust in their national government. A recent OECD report on exploring new frontiers in citizen participation in the policy cycle (OECD 2025) clearly articulates that this widespread disillusionment signals an urgent need to reimagine democratic governance and place citizens squarely at its heart.
Current governance systems, even those calling themselves democracies, often function more like plutocracies or oligarchies, dominated by special interest groups like fossil fuels, chemicals, finance, big pharma, and defence. Research, such as the Gilens and Page (2014) study, indicates that economic elites and business interests exert substantial influence on policy, while average citizens have almost none. This lack of genuine representation fuels public unhappiness and has contributed to the rise of populism. While reforming voting systems and reducing money in politics critically important and necessary reforms, the issues run deeper, residing in the way collective decisions are made.
Meaningful citizen participation is no longer optional; it is essential for tackling complex policy issues, fostering trust, and building resilient democracies. Modern policymakers confront "wicked problems" characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, demanding careful trade-offs across different societal groups and generations. Inclusive and meaningful participation is particularly crucial for these "fundamental" policy choices, which often involve decisions with significant long-term consequences.
To achieve this, we must address four systemic challenges hindering effective citizen participation identified by the OECD (2025):
Shared Understanding: A lack of common understanding among policymakers regarding the central role and purpose of citizen participation in the policy cycle
Coordination: Poor coordination among public institutions, both horizontally (across ministries) and vertically (across local, national, and international levels), leading to fragmented opportunities and "consultation fatigue" for citizens
Alignment: A disconnect between the "front office" (public-facing interfaces) and "back office" (internal processes like budgeting, rulemaking) of public institutions, which often remain opaque and unresponsive to citizen input
Accountability: Insufficient accountability for how citizens' inputs are used throughout the policy cycle, leaving people sceptical about the real impact of their participation.
New Frontiers in Democratic Innovation: To overcome these challenges, new approaches and technologies are emerging:
Deliberative Democracy and Sortition: Deliberative democracy, emphasizing genuine discussion free from unequal power, offers a powerful alternative for collective decision-making (Dryzek et al. 2019). A key method is sortition, where representatives are chosen randomly, similar to jury selection, to prevent special interests from influencing candidates. This approach is increasingly seen in representative citizens' assemblies, which convene diverse groups to learn, deliberate, and develop informed recommendations on complex and divisive issues like abortion or climate change. The OECD notes a "deliberative wave," with the environment being the most popular topic for such assemblies.
Sociocracy: A complementary method based on governance by the group, sociocracy utilizes consent for decision-making rather than simple majority or full consensus (Owen and Buck 2020). Participants only need to "live with" a decision, viewing it as "good enough for now and safe enough to try". This encourages participation and discussion to overcome objections and leads to more sustainable decisions, provided groups first agree on shared goals.
Technology and AI: Digital platforms can create more inclusive and accessible forums for public discourse. While AI promises efficiency gains and expanded participation, risks like language divides, algorithmic opacity, and biases must be addressed through ethical guidelines and citizen involvement in AI system development. Tools like chatbots can facilitate citizen participation in local governance, and AI can summarize complex deliberations, making information more accessible.
Global Citizenship Education (GCED): Expanding democratic participation globally requires fostering "global citizens" who understand interconnected challenges like climate change. GCED aims to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes to address globalization's challenges, making learners agents of change. It emphasizes understanding the world, valuing differences, and working collaboratively for collective well-being.
Strengthening Civil Society and Stakeholder Engagement: Trade unions are vital pillars of democracy, fostering social cohesion and representing workers' interests, contributing to trust and active citizenship. Businesses also play a crucial role, contributing expertise and insights that lead to better regulation and increased trust when effectively engaged .
Examples of Progress: Countries and cities are already implementing these new frontiers. Finland's National Dialogues offer ongoing civic spaces for citizens and civil servants to engage in "active listening," fostering mutual understanding and informing policymaking. Braga, Portugal, uses participatory budgeting and targets outreach to underrepresented groups, promoting inclusivity in local governance. At the international level, the UN is developing a permanent global Global Citizens' Assembly to establish a direct pathway for ordinary citizens to participate in global deliberations, offering recommendations for international summits.
Moving Forward: A Strategic Imperative:
To truly strengthen democracies, a more strategic, whole-of-government, and long-term approach to citizen participation is imperative. This involves embedding participation as a core function of the state, ensuring that the chosen participatory practices fit the nature of the policy issue, the role of citizens, and the stage in the policy cycle. It requires continuous learning, robust measurement tools like the OECD Citizen Participation Barometer, and a commitment to nurturing a vibrant civic space where all voices can contribute to building a more resilient, just, and responsive governance for generations to come.
References
Dryzek, J.S., Bächtiger, A., Chambers, S., Cohen, J., Druckman, J.N., Felicetti, A., Fishkin, J.S., Farrell, D.M., Fung, A., Gutmann, A. and Landemore, H., 2019. The crisis of democracy and the science of deliberation. Science. 363:1144-1146.
Gilens, M., Page, B.I., 2014. Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspectives on politics 12:564-581.
OECD. 2025. Exploring New Frontiers in Citizen Participation in the Policy Cycle, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/77f5098c-en.
Owen, R.L. and J.A. Buck. 2020. Creating the conditions for reflective team practices: examining sociocracy as a self-organizing governance model that promotes transformative learning. Reflective Practice 21, 786-802.