Class Inequalities and Participatory Democracy: Assessing the Impact of Social Inclusion Tools in Citizens’ Assemblies

Recent research has examined the effectiveness of inclusion tools aimed at encouraging greater involvement of disadvantaged social groups in local deliberative institutions. Most research, quantitative and qualitative, tends to examine positive outcomes, although results are frequently ambivalent. This research begins by arguing that analytical frameworks should consider the limitations of inclusion tools and that greater attention should be given to alternative approaches to inclusion (material/symbolic, formal/informal, focused/general). Based on these theoretical points, the study focuses on the views and experiences of working-class people and smallholder farmers in relation to their participation in open rural assemblies (concejos abiertos) in the Basque Country (Spain). The research employed an ethnographic methodology involving 20 observations of assemblies/events and 55 in-depth interviews conducted between 2012 and 2015. Three inclusion tools were identified as key to the functioning of the assemblies: “administrative and technical support” for engaging with the bureaucratic processes, a legal “right to paid work leave” for board members, and the use of “multi-disciplinary boards.” The study examines the effectiveness of these tools in motivating and facilitating the involvement of participants from disadvantaged social class positions, presenting novel findings in the case of paid work leave and multi-disciplinary boards. The importance of informal practices and procedures for reducing material constraints are emphasized as well as the identification of some limitations of inclusion tools in a context of predominant elitist paradigms.