For democratic citizens around the world are tired of simply being "allowed" to "have their say" from the sidelines of policymaking processes from which they are excluded. Democratic citizens understand that democratic society and government is constituted only through their own participation in the policymaking process. All the rest is commentary. --Which is not to sideline the value of commentary, but simply to emphasize that democratic commentary develops in relation to active engagement in the policymaking process, not from the sidelines where neoliberal institutions would like to keep us.
Neoliberal institutional frames of policymaking seek to keep democratic citizens on the sidelines, restricted to voicing their opinions about things over which they have no control. Truly democratic institutional frames engage citizens in the work of policymaking, where the knowledge invested in democratic people becomes the power to change policy.
Open Democracy is About More than "Allowing Citizens to Have Their Say" on the Sidelines of Policymaking
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