Democracy innovation: international perspectives and contributions from our context 

From June 23 to 27, we had a rich and intense week at Arantzazulab. We have been deeply engaged in reflecting on lessons learned from diverse initiatives, building international connections, and sharing collective insights on democracy innovation. 

On June 24, we held a working session with Michael Saward (University of Warwick). On June 25, we co-organised a summer course with the University of the Basque Country (EHU) titled: “Innovating Democracy: What can we contribute? An international perspective and dialogue”. And on June 26, we had a working session with Hélène Landemore (Yale University). 

Working session with expert Michael Saward 

On June 24, we held a working session at Arantzazulab with various stakeholders from our ecosystem and expert Michael Saward.  Michael Saward is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. Born in Tasmania, he earned his honours degree at the Australian National University and completed his PhD at the University of Essex. Before joining Warwick in 2012, he taught at the Open University —where he served twice as Head of Department— and at Royal Holloway. His research focuses on contemporary democratic theory and the concept of representation. He has published several award-winning books, including The Representative Claim, Democratic Design, Enacting European Citizenship, The Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance, and he edited two new books in 2024. He has held residencies in Mexico, Brazil, and Australia, and currently continues to explore how ideas, design and representation impact democracy. 

If you’d like to learn more about his work, here is the recommended reading for the session: a text that summarizes the main ideas of his book.

It was also an opportunity to discuss the work being carried out by various actors in the Basque Country to deepen democracy and strengthen our communities, as well as to explore Michael Saward’s work and contributions more closely. We reflected on several key questions, including: What should we consider when building a solid foundation to strengthen our democracy?  
What opportunities do we see in the Basque Country to deepen our democratic practices? And how would we describe the challenges or obstacles we may face along the way? 

After an intense and enriching session, the following three ideas summarise the key aspects of the conversations held: 

1. Representativeness.
We explored the question of what representation truly means. What conditions must be in place to ensure meaningful representation? Who are the key unelected representatives in our context? Who possesses democratic legitimacy? And who speaks on behalf of nature in the Basque Country? 

2. Hybrid Models for Deepening Democracy. 
Democracy must respond to the realities of real people. With this in mind, the session opened up a space for reflecting on hybrid approaches to reimagining democracy. These approaches resonate with Saward’s “second-order” framework, or as reinterpreted during the session, as a constellation of interconnected models: representative, associative, deliberative, participatory. Rather than considering these models as isolated or self-contained, we reflected on the relevance of seeing them as mutually enriching and interrelated. 

3. Sustaining Interdisciplinary Reflection on Democracy.
There is a notable lack of spaces for democratic practice. Saward proposed the creation of a Basque Democracy Commission—an interdisciplinary forum where we could continue to explore core democratic questions: What does democracy mean to us in the Basque Country? How are we framing it? What are the unspoken challenges we face in the Basque Country? What are the incentives to make a contribution to democracy? 

Summer Course organized together with the University of the Basque Country (EHU) 

On June 25, we held the summer course “Innovating democracy: What can we contribute? An international perspective and dialogue” at Gandiaga Topagunea, the headquarters of Arantzazulab. The event gathered around 70 participants and Irune Berasaluze, Deputy for Governance of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, opened the course.

The course directors, Naiara Goia and Ione Ardaiz, presented the rational and approach of the course. Both emphasised that, in the face of global authoritarian threats, there is a clear will in the Basque Country to deepen democratic culture and advance democracy innovation through innovative strategies led by a range of local institutions and actors. Moreover, they claimed that the course aims to develop and highlight our contribution to the global debate on democracy innovation by combining local experiences with the perspectives of international experts. 

In the second part of the day, two global leaders delivered inspiring keynote presentations. Hélène Landemore (Yale University), in her talk “The Market, the Forum, and the Jury: Revisiting Models of Democracy”, presented the foundations of the open democracy concept, advocating for more direct and inclusive citizen participation. She also addressed the importance of deliberation, as well as the opportunities and challenges posed by digital technologies, encouraging reflection on 21st-century models of democracy.

Michael Saward (University of Warwick) gave a talk titled “Challenges of Democratic Design”. He began by describing the current state of democracy, outlining today’s key challenges and sharing his proposals to address them from a political theory perspective. He then developed his reflections on democracy design, highlighting the importance of context and exploring how subnational regions can contribute to addressing global democratic challenges.

Two round tables concluded the summer course. In the first, representatives from local institutions presented the strategies and projects they are developing to deepen democracy in our region. Under the title “Strategies and experiences of local institutions in deepening democratic culture and strengthening the sense of community,” contributions were made by Mikel Hidalgo, Coordinator of Social Innovation and the 2030 Agenda projects at Presidency in the Basque Government; Ana Aguirre, Director of Open Government and Good Governance at Department of Governance, Digital Administration and Self-Government in the Basque Government; Iosu Arraiz, Director of Strategy and Etorkizuna Eraikiz at the General Deputy’s Area in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa; Ainhoa Arrona, Researcher at Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness; and Naiara Goia, Arantzazulab’s Managing Director. 

In the second round-table, promoters of the various initiatives promoted by Arantzazulab shared their experiences and reflections. Under the title “Variations, scenarios, and opportunities for democracy in the 21st century. A conversation among the leaders of research and experimentation initiatives promoted by Arantzazulab,” presentations were given by Andoni Eizagirre, Mondragon University; Arantxa Mendiharat, Deliberativa; Eider Aldape, Maraka; Maria Ajuria, Farapi Kooperatiba and member of the Co-creation Ecosystem promoted by Arantzazulab; Beatriz Belmonte, funder and director of Better Public Services, and researcher in the “Democracy in the digital age” research promoted by Arantzazulab; and Ione Ardaiz, Arantzazulab. 

Multiple perspectives have come together at the summer course held in Arantzazu, and it has been encouraging to see that there is a shared desire to deepen democracy innovation. 

Working session with Hélène Landemore 

On June 26th, a group from the Arantzazulab ecosystem gathered once again to hold a reflection session with Hélène Landemore. 

Hélène Landemore is a researcher at Yale University and a leading international voice in the field of democracy innovation. She is a Professor of Political Science specialising in political theory. Her main areas of research and teaching include democratic theory, political epistemology, and the ethics and politics of artificial intelligence. She is a member of the Ethics in AI Institute at the University of Oxford and serves as an advisor to OpenAI’s Democratic Inputs to AI programme. She served on the Governance Committee of the most recent French Citizens’ Convention and is currently undertaking work supported by Schmidt Futures through the AI2050 program. 

If you’d like to learn more about her work, here are two recommended readings for the session:  

In this session, as we did in the June 24 gathering, we engaged in a collective reflection on Arantzazulab’s strategic framework, approaches, and initiatives. It was also an opportunity to discuss the work that a range of actors are carrying out in the Basque Country to deepen democracy and strengthen community, as well as to learn more about Hélène Landemore’s research and contributions. 

We proposed several starting questions to kick off the conversation, including: 

  • What do you think are the particularities of our context when it comes to strengthening democracy in the Basque Country?
  • What opportunities do you see to deepen democracy here? And what obstacles or challenges might we face?
  • How could we enrich the initiatives we are currently promoting?
  • What should we consider in order to build a strong foundation for reinforcing democracy?

From the working session with Hélène Landemore and the actors in the Arantzazulab ecosystem, we would highlight the following three ideas: 

1. Open Democracy. 
We discussed different ways democracy can be practised. As an example, Citizens’ Assemblies today often focus on a specific question, which limits what participants can discuss. But we need to ask ourselves: What are these Citizens’ Assemblies really for? 
If we truly want to foster a democratic culture, we need to go a step further and involve citizens in setting the agenda itself. Deliberation can be an appropriate method for defining agendas — not just for answering predefined questions. 
We also need to keep exploring the enabling conditions: What kind of civic infrastructure and culture does deliberation require? What kind of political culture does democracy need to thrive? 

2. Digital Technologies. 
Digital technologies — and artificial intelligence in particular — present new challenges for democracy, but also create new opportunities. They can help redistribute power, improve access to information, and counter autocratic tendencies. 
We reflected on how these tools could support deliberation — for example, through Chris Summerfield’s “Habermas machine” — and how AI could support sortition and contribute to fairer citizen selection processes. 
Key questions remain: What kinds of deliberation are possible in digital spaces? How should they be designed? Who should design them? Can we use AI to augment, rather than replace, human democratic reasoning? 

3. Taking a Wide Focus. 
We also reflected on how, in the Basque Country, democracy is understood in a broad sense: as a way to strengthen communities, organisations, cooperatives, and to foster wellbeing and territorial development. 
We discussed several examples: how to meaningfully include students’ voices in university governance; the concept of “investors’ assemblies” developed by Landemore with Zingales and Hart; and the connections between community development and Citizens’ Assemblies. 
Above all, we emphasised the importance of moving beyond isolated, one-off processes. We must design long-term democratic infrastructures and nurture the political and civic culture needed to sustain them. 

The End of a Rich and Inspiring Week 

The week has sparked deep reflection and renewed our strength and inspiration to continue deepening democratic culture. Our warmest thanks to all of you who joined us in Arantzazu — and especially to the two international experts who spent the entire week with us. Your participation and contributions have opened new paths for continuing to generate knowledge through these encounters. 

This week’s conversations have revealed many promising threads: new themes to explore, future opportunities for collaboration, and enriching spaces for mutual learning. This is not the end — we will continue deepening on these threads and walking this path together with all of you.