Linking Traditional ‘Organic’ and ‘Induced’ Public Participation with Deliberative Democracy: Experiments in Pune, India

Abstract

Resolving urban challenges or ‘wicked problems’ is a dilemma for most governments, especially in developing countries, and India is a case in point. Collaborative, dialogue-based approaches have been posited as critical to addressing wicked problems. This would require a reform of Indian cities’ governance systems to enable citizens to be embedded in decision-making about complex issues. This article contends that while India’s traditional forms of civic participation can provide a strong foundation for reform, new forms of representative deliberative, influential public participation, that is, deliberative democracy, will be important. Traditional organic and induced participation examples in India are overviewed in terms of their strengths and gaps. Two deliberative democracy case studies in Pune, India, are described, and their potential for reform is assessed. Traditional, together with innovative, induced and organic participation in governance, will be needed to overcome significant pitfalls in governance if Indian cities are to become more capable of addressing urban sustainability challenges.

Can Deliberative Democracy Work in Urban India?

“…Three deliberation processes were undertaken in Pune between 2014 and 2017 [35,39]. Two of these related to improving the participatory budgeting process in Pune, and the third was on street usage and design in one particular neighborhood (see Boxes 1-3).…”

“…Each deliberation began with input presentations by experts in the sector. The questions for deliberation were initially discussed by the facilitators and then given to the representative mini-publics [35,39]. Demographically diverse participants were seated in small, purposefully mixed groups, each with a facilitator from an outside organization and a scribe from the participants.…”

“…Detailed descriptions of these deliberations are presented in previous publications by Menon and Hartz-Karp [35,39,48], including brief assessments, learnings from each case, and explanations about how the principles of high-quality public deliberation were applied in the conduct of these forums. What is of interest to this article are the participants' feedback surveys implemented after each public event which have not been previously analyzed.…”

“…This research led to the realization that to successfully implement deliberative democracy initiatives in the Indian context, it will be important to include India's traditionally strong grassroots organic participation [35]. Additionally, it was realized that it will be important to address the decreasing trust in Indian governments and decision-making [36][37][38].…”

IT-Oriented Infrastructural Development, Urban Co-Dependencies, and the Reconfiguration of Everyday Politics in Pune, India

“…The usual vehicles of this politics are usually civil society groups and residential associations, which seek to address the numerous gaps in local infrastructure and planning in these 'up-and-coming' areas of the citywhether they be related to the environment, transport, water, lighting, traffic or road development (cf. Menon & Hartz-Karp, 2019). Many of these middle-class civil society groups are well-networked and media savvy, and use their visibility in the public sphere to intervene in and change the course of urban and area development plans, engaging with the state and civic authorities, as well as the private sector developers and companies.…”