G1000

Deliberative democracy project

At the last election, the citizens of Belgium elected the people they wanted to be governed by. They waited a year with great patience. Then G1000 was launched by, among others, the writer David Van Reybrouck. G1000 is a "platform for democratic innovation" in Belgium.

In July 2011, the organizers launched an online idea-box in which every citizen could post questions or problems that should be treated at the G1000 citizen summit. The second part of the project consisted in a process of citizen deliberation, the G1000 summit, where 1000 citizens were invited to discuss social security, migration, wealth and the financial crisis and develop basic ideas.

In the third phase 32 citizens elaborated these basic ideas into policy proposals and recommendations to various layers of government on social security, tax and wealth redistribution, labour market issues and anti-discrimination.

In the future, the G1000 will continue to be active in promoting and exploring new methods for innovating democracy. It will carry on applying cutting-edge scientific knowledge to practical ideas, projects and actions.

Didier Caluwaerts

Didier Caluwaerts (born 1983) is a post-doctoral researcher of the FWO at the VUB. He is the winner of the 2010 ECPR Dirk Berg-Schlosser award, secretary of the Vereniging voor Politieke Wetenschappen, and co-organizer of the G1000 citizens' summit. His PhD dealt with deliberative democracy in divided societies.

More information

• http://www.g1000.org/