Articles by Michel P Pimbert

In many countries 'representative' democracy that relies on the accountability of elected politicians has been heavily criticised for its frequent inability to protect the interests of a large proportion of its citizens. Over the past quarter century a number of 'participatory' methods have been developed to supplement conventional democratic processes by moving beyond traditional forms of consultation. Increasingly, the introduction of new technologies and all policy processes involves making decisions without being able to predict the effects of different courses of action. Participatory methods can be invaluable in such situations. Prajateerpu - a citizens' jury on food and farming futures in Andhra Pradesh - was a six-day exercise in deliberative democracy involving marginal-livelihood citizens from the different regions of the state. A report.