Join us for a discussion with Claudia Chwalisz, author of The People's Verdict, and Neil McInroy, chief executive of CLES.
Trust in government and politicians is in short supply. People claim to be tired of ‘experts’ and the divide between facts and opinion has been blurred.
The art of offering simple solutions to complex problems is tipping the scale away from nuanced, multifaceted answers founded on compromise.
Within this context, governments nonetheless need to make difficult decisions, whether it's developing budgets, aligning priorities, or designing long-term projects. It's often impossible to make everybody happy, and the messy business of weighing trade-offs takes place.
Claudia's book is a study of 50 long-form deliberative processes, where randomly selected citizens have played key roles in decisions such as Canada's national mental health action plan, Melbourne's 10-year $5 billion budget, Victoria's obesity strategy and Ontario's housing legislation, among others.
She makes the case that adding informed citizen voices to the heart of public decision-making leads to more effective policies.
6:00-6:15pm Arrival and sign-in
6:15-6:20pm Introduction: Liz Richardson, Reader in Politics at the University of Manchester
6:20 - 8:00pm In Conversation: Claudia Chwalisz and Neil McInroy, Q&A with the audience
8.00pm Drinks Reception
#PeoplesVerdict
This event is organised together with CLES and the Manchester Urban Institute.
CLES is the UK's leading, independent think and do tank realising progressive economics for people and place. Our aim is to achieve social justice, good local economies and effective public services for everyone, everywhere.
The vision of the MUI is to realise more inclusive and just cities that are both environmentally and socially sustainable for the current and future generations through world-leading research, engagement/impact and training activities.