POLITICS – Since the mid-2010s, France has been shaken up by an impressive number of mobilisations with social, economic and climatic resonances: the movement against the Labour Law, Nuit Debout, Gilets jaunes, demonstrations for the climate and against police violence, and the vast trade union and popular mobilisation against pension reforms. These mobilisations have different causes, but what they all have in common is that they question the state of our representative system and remind us of the principle that “what concerns everyone must be discussed by everyone”. Behind the multiplicity of crises lies a broader crisis that affects our ability to form a society: a crisis of democracy.
As one news item chases another, this crisis of democracy, which is regularly revived, is just as regularly glossed over. We are even witnessing the resurgence of a form of political “verticality”, with, for example, the use of 49.3 to push through the pension reform without a vote in the National Assembly and against the social and trade union movement. More recently, after the death of Nahel, a teenager killed by a police officer during a roadside check, hundreds of towns were rocked by riots.
“Behind the multiplicity of crises lies a broader crisis that affects our ability to build a society: a crisis of democracy”.
But at no point, after the necessary return to calm, was the question of the place of young people and the inhabitants of working-class neighbourhoods in political society raised. Quite the contrary: to overcome the mistrust of certain groups or categories of the population, the use of repression is becoming increasingly commonplace, to the detriment of in-depth democratic debate on social inequalities and environmental issues.
80% of French people in favour of institutional reform
At a time when the President of the Republic intends to outline the long-awaited reform of the institutions in the secrecy of a meeting held behind closed doors with twelve political party leaders, we are defending the idea that it is possible, desirable and necessary to create the conditions for everyone to be genuinely involved in drawing up common rules, and that this involvement is the sine qua non of a society that is fairer, shows greater solidarity, respects the planet and cares for future generations. The French overwhelmingly want this: according to an OpinionWay poll conducted in January 2023, eight out of ten of them want to be involved in reforming the institutions so that they are better included. In fact, the rise in abstention is not, on the whole, a symptom of a rejection of democracy: in many respects it is the marker of a desire for a democracy that is more respectful of popular sovereignty and more in tune with the challenges of today’s world.
The social and political history of recent years has shown us that change cannot be decreed from on high. The renewed and deepened democracy we want can only become a reality on the initiative of the citizens themselves.
That’s why, on September 15, International Day of Democracy, we are calling for a Citizens’ Convention on Democracy to propose a reform of the Constitution and institutions in all their aspects – political, but also economic, social and environmental.
Made up of people chosen by lot, the Citizens’ Convention on Democracy would be based on the preliminary contributions of the “Assises de la démocratie” held throughout France and on the debate between political and trade union forces, the voluntary sector, legal experts and academics. Its proposal would be debated in Parliament and then put to the French people in a referendum, under the conditions laid down in the Constitution.
As a response to the crisis in democracy, this Citizens’ Convention on Democracy would offer several essential guarantees: firstly, it would be representative of French society in all its diversity; secondly, it would be directly relevant to the issues that concern the country; and thirdly, it would be part of a legal, peaceful and organised process for reforming the Constitution.
A petition calling for a Citizens’ Convention on Democracy has been launched on the dedicated platform of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC). If 150,000 of us sign it, the EESC will have to debate it in plenary session and will have the task of organising it in accordance with the organic law of 15 January 2021, with the support of a pluralist and independent steering committee. Citizens’ demands for greater participation cannot be ignored any longer; they must be translated into concrete action.
Putting people back at the heart of the city and public action
The crisis of democracy is not a benign or temporary illness that we can hope to cure suddenly with a new election. It is a deep-seated illness that is undermining the social contract and damaging the social fabric. The current deadlock in our political institutions bears witness to this, as does, at least in part, the radicalisation of positions in a society where there are too few forums for deliberation and too little openness.
“The crisis of democracy is not a benign or temporary illness, which we can hope will suddenly be cured by the next election”.
But the crisis of democracy is not inevitable. It calls for the construction of common responses that are equal to the situation and, first and foremost, for the creation of the conditions for a great popular, constituent and unifying moment. The Citizens’ Convention on Democracy can be the catalyst for this, by putting the people back in the place they should never have left: at the heart of the city and at the origin of all public action.
We invite all citizens wishing to take part in this movement to gather on Saturday 16 September at 4pm in Paris, Place de la République, to mark the International Day of Democracy and to festively call for the establishment of the Citizens’ Convention on Democracy.
