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The UK has internationally low trust in its political institutions, with confidence in parliament halving since 1990, and very few having faith in the government or political parties. 

Yet despite this disillusionment, support for democracy is extremely high and rising in the UK – we are just much less convinced by how it is working for us right now. 

With the majority of the population not confident that “people like them” have a say in what the government does, is it time to consider how we can better engage citizens in decision-making?   

Deliberative democracy brings people from diverse backgrounds together, gives them access to credible and authoritative information, and provides the conditions for dialogue that encourages and helps people to reach conclusions and make recommendations.  

It’s a process that has helped to bring about real legislative change on issues that were previously considered intractable, such as abortion. 

Join our panel for the latest in the Deliberate series - a partnership between NatCen and the Policy Institute - to discuss how we can do democracy differently, and how deliberative methods could help rebuild trust in our politics. 

Panel

• Douglas Alexander, Former Minister of State and Secretary of State
• Ceri Davies, Director of the Centre for Deliberative Research, NatCen (co-chair)
• Suzanne Hall, Director of Engagement, the Policy Institute at King’s College London (co-chair)
• Miriam Levin, Chief Executive, Engage Britain
• Jane Suiter, Professor, political scientist and director of Dublin City University's Institute for Future Media, Democracy, and Society