1. Deliberative Democracy in Lebanon: Prospects for Democratic Innovation.
- Author
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Sleiman, André
- Subjects
CIVIL society ,POLITICAL participation ,DEMOCRACY ,GOVERNMENT agencies ,POLITICAL science - Abstract
This assessment is developed in the framework of the OECD Project "Citizens' Voice: Empowering Civil Society and the Media to Enhance Open Government" financed by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented in the context of the MENA-OECD Governance Programme. It responds to a request from Lebanese governmental and non-governmental actors expressed during the inception phase of the project for policy advice on innovative channels for citizen participation. The paper explores whether and how representative deliberative processes could be considered and implemented in Lebanon. It looks at the feasibility and viability of such processes in the country by identifying the central barriers in their initiation and implementation, as well as what impact could be expected. The paper does not provide an overview of deliberative democratic processes or broader citizen participation efforts in Lebanon, both of which have been covered by recent OECD publications. While the authors recognize the Lebanese civil society's efforts to form coalitions and weigh in on the policy process (such as for example for the National Human Rights Strategy and Action Plan, and the National Anti- Corruption Strategy), these practices are not covered in this paper, which focuses specifically on representative deliberative processes. These processes give randomly selected citizens -- through a method called "civic lottery" -- a framework to learn, deliberate, discuss and analyse a policy issue of concern and provide them with the opportunity to make informed recommendations to decision-makers. The document is based on consultative interviews conducted with a range of governmental and nongovernmental actors, experts and organisations, as well as a current and former members of parliament involved in public governance reforms. Two OECD roundtables, one organised on 7 July 2022 in collaboration with the Maharat Foundation, and a second on 23 March 2023 under the patronage of the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR), and in collaboration with the Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP), introduced the concept and examples of deliberative democracy and gathered input from a variety of relevant stakeholders for the assessment. The findings of this document are indicative and are not designed to provide guidance on an implementable deliberative process, but rather to deliver an initial analysis on which more in-depth work could be based. The aim is to contribute to a national debate on the value of deliberative processes, raise awareness about their potential, and respond to the demand of a wide range of actors for support in potentially taking related efforts forward. The document could also be of use to inform donors potentially interested in supporting this type of initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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