Reinventing democracy with John Gastil

In this episode of the Informed Futures podcast, Koi Tū deputy director Anne Bardsley speaks with one of the world’s leading deliberative democracy scholars and innovators, Pennsylvania State University Distinguished Professor John Gastil.

Here at Koi Tū, we’ve been researching democratic innovations and experimenting with processes grounded in the principles of deliberative democracy to engage the public more deeply in the tough decisions that need to be made for New Zealand’s future.

This work includes exploring and experimenting with a range of digital engagement tools, so I was particularly interested in talking to Dr. Gastil about his proposal to build  a suite of software and tools that engage citizens in budgeting, agenda setting, and policymaking. He calls this “the Democracy Machine”.

Tune in to hear all about his ideas on how to build public trust in government and in supporting community action and civic engagement.