G1000

The G1000 was a large-scale citizen's conference that took place in Belgium in 2011. 1000 citizens participated in a 3-stage event to discuss various issues facing the country and draft a list of proposed solutions. The event's organizers were well-versed in Deliberative Democratic theory and implemented many of the aspects discussed by the researchers and theoreticians.

Background

Belgian Parliamentary Crisis

In 2011, a parliamentary impasse left Belgium with no functioning government for over 500 days. The political crisis left the country on edge with tensions between the two linguistic groups (the Dutch-speaking Flemish community and the French-speaking Walloons). In addition, there was a general feeling of powerlessness due to the impasse and dysfunctional government.

A number of Belgian citizens decided to organize a platform for the citizens to participate and become more involved in politics. They believed that elected officials – due to their preoccupation with their political survival and careers – are quite conservative and lack the courage to make tough decisions as well as compromises. Rather, it is the ‘ordinary’ citizens who have more liberty to attempt innovative solutions. The organizers believed that they could utilize the internet to develop a project that would “breathe new life” into the Belgian democracy. The organizers sought not to create an alternative to the elected government and parliament, but rather to develop a new citizen platform to complement the existing political structures.