Governments rarely voluntarily close down. No one appears to be any worse off. Belgium is often overlooked as a country of immigration because of its size and its less known history of immigration. Maybe the prince of Liechtenstein, but Hans-Adam II also actually rules.). “It’s the antithesis of click democracy,” the former Labour MP and political reform enthusiast Graham Allen tells me. It is an example Americans should ponder. Once there, the populace is sovereign: a simple majority can pass any law, though only after listening to both sides of the argument, The Council of 500: picked by lot from the citizenry, the Council prepares laws for the assembly, and superintends financial and diplomatic executive functions, The officials and magistrates: 700 paid posts with particular responsibilities; 600 are picked by lots for one-year, non- renewable terms; but another 100– with the weightiest (especially military) duties—are elected, and sometimes serve several terms, The excluded: women, foreigners, minors, slaves. If you just put an ad in the paper, only anoraks and the usual suspects will turn up. But he’s got one more idea up his sleeve: a “preferendum” in which a citizens’ assembly designs a menu of up to 30 Brexit options for the public to rank. But there are procedural (and mathematical) objections to all voting systems. It’s more that I’d rather my rubbish was just collected on time than spend my evenings “having a say” about it in meetings. This is why the King sees representatives not only from the world of politics, but from all those with an influence in the country at economic, social, academic, cultural and sport level. When two dogs fight for a bone, the third runs away with it. Van Reybrouck says “we’re moving now from the right to vote to the right to speak.” But to what end? Personally, I’m still attached to what we’ve got. I ask him about the pilot citizens’ dialogue on childcare, the only practical experience with deliberative democracy in Ostbelgien thus far and the inspiration for the whole reform, and he reveals something that takes me aback. Even granting that, could sortition, perhaps by removing the influence of the donors, still give a competitive edge to some ideologies over others? Voting, he argues, was never designed to give people a meaningful say, but to keep them in their place: the word “elite” originally meant those who are elected. The leading Flemish nationalist party came in first with 25. In principle, at least, parties represent opposed class interests. If you do not know your login details, simply close this pop-up and click 'Login' on the black bar at the top of the screen, then click 'Forgotten password? The Flemish have increasingly favored a divorce from French-speaking Wallonia, a more socialist-minded land whose residents believe themselves entitled to live off their taxpaying neighbors. The purpose of right-wing populism is to stir up rage that prevents them doing so. This success has inspired many glowing headlines, as well as politicians from Ed Miliband and Rory Stewart to Emmanuel Macron—who has promised a grand débat national. Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information. Within spitting distance of the German border, Ostbelgien is no stranger to chauvinist extremism. A “fixed council” of 24 citizens meets monthly for 18 months. The Greens, once a minor force, could lead the next left-wing coalition and snag the chancellorship, pushing aside the hoary, unprincipled, decrepit, and fundamentally useless Social Democrats and Christian Democrats. Second, “Belgium is the only European country that hasn’t started a real post-COVID economic recovery program yet.” Indeed, van Dorpe and Gijs note that the Flemish Socialist Party is demanding “big reforms.” Of course it is. I wondered if what I’d seen in Eupen was a political hammer to crack an economic nut. But the process is not as random as it’s cracked up to be. Prominent among them is the charismatic and eclectic Belgian historian David Van Reybrouck, who warns that a restless public is no longer going to be content to tick a box every five years and then go back to sleep. Even if that’s overdoing it, the politicians will cherry-pick: the Dutch government ignored electoral reforms proposed by a 2006 Dutch citizens’ assembly. “Deliberation is not a quick fix—it’s about taking your time and thinking about it.” Or as Dejaeghere puts it: “We should make politics more boring.”. Because then you create this illusion of participation.”, I have no doubt that taking part is—as Van Reybrouck says—“a life-changing” experience. The lack of grassroots participation in our system is a problem, but what about its capture from above by the wealthy? Deliberative democracy is a third way. This quiet, sedate and fairly prosperous provincial town seems an unlikely host for radical democratic innovation. Or so goes the theory. Often. Bolting a new system on to the old doesn’t answer the fundamental question in times when presidents and prime ministers are contemptuous towards legislatures, the laws that they pass and the courts that interpret them. Namely, that after the assembly made their recommendations, the minister just went ahead with what he’d already planned. And from next year, everyday folk chosen by chance will have the opportunity to shape policy alongside the elected MPs—in the first permanent citizens’ assembly in the world. In Belgium’s mind-boggling political system, which has overlaying territorial and language-based federal elements, the German-speaking community has its own government, with devolved powers comparable to Scotland or Wales. “It is too toxic.” And regional Green MP Jerusalem is positively pessimistic about citizen decision-making on climate change, something not just British parliamentarians but also Extinction Rebellion protestors have called for. Sam Tanenhaus looks at the final days of Trump, while Ngaire Woods examines Biden's in-tray. But it’s inevitably still going to fall to politicians—the people who actually seek out office—to set the broader thrust of policy. Yet Belgium appeared to get along just fine without a bunch of national office-holders pretending to matter. Socialists want to run not just the economy but society, so they always offer “big reforms.” That doesn’t mean they are good reforms. A picturesque church graces the main square, pavements are lined with bistro tables, and cyclists negotiate the cobbled streets. Belgium has not had a functioning government since December 2018. [CDATA[*/Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-1");Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-2");Insticator.load("em",{id : "6cf39429-6912-4a91-b1e2-3e9365a5e9c6"});/*]]>*/. Contemporary advocates of citizens’ assemblies insist they’re designed to complement rather than replace electoral politics. In Eupen, the positive response rate has so far been just 11 per cent, despite the offer of €200 per weekend plus expenses. If people see that their input counts, Jerusalem tells me, “then we’ve got a super good tool to get trust back. Power must at least account for itself, therefore. At the start of the year, the Labour MPs Stella Creasy (from Remain-voting East London) and Lisa Nandy (from Leave-leaning Wigan) could still make a splash with a joint plan to task a citizens’ assembly to chart a way through. People don’t trust politicians, Dejaeghere notes, but “We never ask the reverse: to what extent do politicians trust their own citizens?” Van Reybrouck agrees: “A lot of politicians say we shouldn’t listen to citizens, because ‘look at the way they shout,’ or ‘look at the way they vote,’ or ‘look at how irrational they are,’ but all this anger is getting louder as they are ignored.”, It could be you!—Empty chairs in a new chamber in the Ostbelgien parliament, where citizens chosen by chance will be summoned to have their say. It’s people shouting please let us be involved.” What about the relatively low response rate? If some of that rage can be defused by listening to the voices of citizens chosen by chance, then perhaps sortition can have a role. Keep Fighting in the Courts, and Start Fighting the Libertarian Party, Crucial Provisional Ballots: Why Pennsylvania (and This Election) Isn’t Over, The Secret Ballot Is Trump’s Secret Weapon. The minister-president was so pleased with the results—though let me come back to exactly what those results were—that he invited the G1000 to establish the “Eupen model.” This autumn, politicians and constitution geeks from as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Bosnia and Peru descended on Eupen for a sortition “summer school” to study Van Reybrouck’s “laboratory for the world.”. Here Van Reybrouck slightly underplays his own trenchant critique of representative democracy: his last book, Against Elections, suggested the integrity of the ballot box could never be protected in an economic plutocracy, because donors can use their resources to buy candidates and bewitch voters. The complaint, articulated by “a Flemish sustainability NGO,” with an ideological bias we can presume, was that the holdover government did “not have a mandate to take an ambitious new direction.” That is, it can’t socialize the economy by adopting those “big reforms” being demanded by the Flemish socialists. The principle of representation bows to the reality that, despite Twitter’s ersatz agora, we can’t all be heard all of the time, even if we wanted to, which we mostly (and sensibly) do not. True, they call on the next government to “fix the budget deficit.” However, even countries with real governments are loath to do that. Personally, I’m a bit of a sortition sceptic, but not because—as Plato and contemporary elitist philosophers like Jason Brennan have argued—ordinary people can’t be trusted to make good decisions. At home, invitations to join a citizens’ assembly on climate change have just landed on the doormats of 30,000 British households—an initiative by a cross-party group of MPs. “In every society there’s a triangle between politicians, people and markets. Belgium has not had a functioning government since December 2018. So, Belgium is a very big political mess. Still, the Belgians have a long time to go to match their experience after the June 2010 election. First, the two authors insist, Belgium needs a “proper budget.” But they admit that spending has gone on anyway. Belgium holds several significant annual musical events, including the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition.