Conference on deliberative democracy to take place in Ulaanbaatar

The National University of Mongolia (NUM) is hosting an international conference titled, “The International Conference on Deliberative Democracy -- Asian Experience” in collaboration with the government of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar from October 11 to 12.

Deliberative democracy has been one of the most promising efforts to enhance citizen engagement in decision making in Mongolia.

Nearly 120 participants from Parliament; government ministries and agencies; local councils of 21 provinces and Ulaanbaatar’s nine districts; political parties, the media, civil society, and the private sector; researchers and scholars from research and higher education institutions; and experts and guest speakers from Estonia, Japan, South Korea, China, the United States, and Australia will participate in the conference.

The conference will provide a platform to share experiences on current challenges of governance in Asia and the emerging trends in civic engagement and democracy.

The efforts to use deliberative polling in Asia have been applied within different political systems, at different levels of government and on different kinds of issues.

The conference’s delegates will discuss mechanisms being used to apply the principles and theories of deliberative democracy; how the decision makers will engage the citizens in the local budget developing process; and where deliberative polling should be situated within the broader decision process.

The conference expects to share experience and practice from around Asia applying the principles of deliberative democracy; develop a basis for advocating for more widespread application of deliberative democracy concepts; reflect on the specific tool of deliberative polling and the lessons learned from projects in multiple Asian countries; handson practice to use deliberative polling method in the local budget drafting; and present presentations and articles by participants to other researchers, policy-makers and the public.