‘A strong signal to the citizens’
Institutionalisation is playing an increasingly significant role in participatory processes at both federal and regional levels in Belgium. Is it a relevant lever for embedding participation in the long term? Does it truly secure these mechanisms beyond political uncertainties? The French democracy organisation „Missions Publiques“ sought the opinions of Manon Salmain and Jonathan Moskovic.
The interview first appeared on the Missions Publiques website.
Manon Salmain is the Air-Climate-Energy project manager at Brussels Environment. Brussels Environment is the administration that launched the Brussels Regional Citizens' Climate Assembly. This permanent Citizens' Assembly includes several cycles where 65 to 100 randomly selected citizens deliberate over several months on climate-related themes. Each cycle represents five days of deliberation. The group is renewed for each theme and selects the topic for the next assembly. The first theme was housing, the second food, and the next will likely address the circular economy and the commons.
Jonathan Moskovic is a former advisor on democratic innovations at the Francophone Brussels Parliament, which initiated mixed deliberative commissions. These commissions gather deputies and randomly selected citizens (three-quarters citizens and one-quarter deputies), totalling 48 to 60 participants depending on the Parliament. They have addressed themes like the deployment of 5G, homelessness, the role of citizens in crisis management, vocational training, urban biodiversity, and urban noise.
What does institutionalisation enable and guarantee?
Question: Belgium is increasingly institutionalising certain participatory modalities: random selection is enshrined in law, deliberative commissions are included in the regulations of both the federal Chamber and the Brussels Parliament, and a law has introduced the first permanent citizens' assembly in the German-speaking Community of Ostbelgien. What does this enable and guarantee?
Jonathan Moskovic: Deliberative commissions are enshrined in the regulations of the Brussels Parliaments, which mandate three commissions per year, following specific rules: number of participants and sessions, objectives, voting rules, etc. Thus, there were six commissions in the previous legislature. Each commission addresses a theme determined by the Parliament, either suggested by deputies or citizens.
The framework aims to set “boundaries” for the process while remaining flexible enough for evolution and adaptation. For instance, during the previous legislature, the regulations and guidelines were adapted to better meet the challenges encountered. There were dozens of modifications, including extending the presence of experts in the process.
„Institutionalisation ensures the continuity of the mechanism“
Institutionalisation ensures the continuity of the mechanism, but its implementation and ambition depend heavily on political will. Federal and regional elections on June 9, 2024, resulted in significant changes in future majorities. A new majority might find it difficult to dismantle the mechanism but could choose not to initiate any deliberative commissions during the term.
Manon Salmain: For the Citizens' Climate Assembly, the framework defines the citizen selection method, diversity goals, the overall structure, mandatory follow-up at three and 12 months, etc., while allowing more freedom in organizational formats and methodologies. An evaluation after cycle 1 led to methodological adjustments for cycle 2.
For example, we reduced the group from 100 to 70 citizens and used the savings to focus on diversity and quality rather than quantity. We also adjusted the session formats and worked with a specialized organization to recruit more young people.
Institutionalised follow-up
A major innovation is the institutionalised follow-up of the Citizen Assembly. Each cycle includes two feedback: the first three months after submitting the work to the government and the second one year later. For each cycle, a citizen committee is set up, with 10 volunteers randomly selected to monitor the implementation of the Assembly’s work for a year.
Cycle 3 is scheduled to begin in early 2025, with a budget already allocated. However, the future elected officials will be responsible for following up on the previous cycle, and the ambition for this mechanism will depend on political will.
Question: Does working continuously with citizens change the work modes within the Parliament or administration?
Moskovic: One of the challenges of the commissions is ensuring balanced participation and avoiding domination by elected officials, who are more accustomed to such exercises. Elected officials are present in a ratio of one-quarter to three-quarters citizens, allowing balanced discussions in sub-groups. Initially, elected officials might struggle to find their place, as they are often familiar with the subject and may position themselves as experts rather than participants.
However, during their second participation, they tend to play along better and understand their role not as superior citizens or mere observers. Nonetheless, power dynamics exist within citizen groups too, influenced by age, gender, and education. The main challenge remains translating recommendations into public policies and connecting with non-participants.
„Commissions have convinced elected officials“
These commissions have also convinced elected officials themselves. They bring together majority and opposition members, allowing them to experience the deliberative process equally. Many initially sceptical officials have changed their minds and become advocates for deliberative commissions.
The very principle of deliberative commissions sends a strong signal to citizens about the need to involve them in co-constructing public policies. As the former president of the Francophone Brussels Parliament said, “What we lose in power, we gain in legitimacy.” This approach is encouraging for future majority changes since it’s not a party-specific mechanism but a proven democratic method.
„Learning process for an administration“
Salmain: Throughout a cycle of the Citizens' Climate Assembly, significant efforts are made to involve civil servants and create dialogue with Assembly citizens. This is positive as administrations have limited contact with citizens and their realities. It’s a new approach for Brussels Environment, fostering dynamics between services. However, it’s challenging to initiate and a learning process for an administration to work with citizens.
We have three key moments: before the Assembly, we gather the relevant service to define the precise question. During the process, services are mobilized to engage with citizens’ work, identify existing initiatives, and help the group progress. After the citizens’ work, we allocate internal time to analyse their proposals and respond adequately, avoiding technical jargon. This time is crucial to understand citizens’ needs and learn from their suggestions.
Key takeaways from the workshop and discussions:
- Institutionalisation integrates citizen participation into public policy-making routines without fossilizing it, if continuous improvement is sought.
- Engaging citizens, elected officials, and administrations ensures better appropriation of results and recreates links between these groups.
- Institutionalisation is not a 100% guarantee but sets boundaries: random selection, number of work sessions, mandatory follow-up.
- Political ambition and will always determine the success of a process.
- Institutionalisation should be considered alongside more occasional mechanisms to avoid redundancy and overlapping efforts.
- A good institutionalisation formula is to sustain the process over time without prolonging the citizens’ mandate. The process is long-term, not the citizen engagement.
- The existence of a national residents’ register (in Belgium, Germany) greatly facilitates random selection.
- Not all mechanisms need to be institutionalised.