91������

Available for over a year

This week Sangita talks to writer, historian and democratic innovator David Van Reybrouck, who spearheaded the first permanent citizens' assembly in the world in the tiny region of German-speaking East Belgium. His Peoples' Senate, whose participants are selected randomly by lot, is carefully stitched into the fabric of government. So what lessons might the East Belgian model offer to countries like Britain which are suffering from 'democratic fatigue syndrome' - where politicians are widely perceived as 'out of touch' with the people? Sangita discusses the permanent citizens' assembly model with a panel of experts: Sarah Castell, Chief Executive Officer of Involve, a think tank which works to increase public participation in politics; Justine Greening, former Secretary of State for Transport, Education and International Development under two Conservative Prime Ministers; and Simon Woolley, founder of Operation Black Vote, cross-bench peer, and Principal of 91������rton College, Cambridge. Producer: Eliane Glaser