Deliberative democracy as a tool to foster youth participation in Europe: the case of Citizens Juries' in Sierra Norte

Oliver Soto Sainz^1,2,3*

• ¹Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
• ²Complutense Institute of Management Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Asturias, Spain
• ³UCM-ICCA, Madrid, Spain

Since the late 1970s there has been a general trend towards a decline in electoral participation in European democracies. That tendency is especially acute if we refer to young people, who find no means to carry their demands onto public authorities. This downward trend in citizen participation in elections has occurred at the same time that European countries have experienced an overall increase in the socioeconomic level and educational background of the population, factors traditionally associated with greater electoral participation. This constant decline, together with other processes, has led to this situation being described as a "crisis of representative democracies".To alleviate this crisis, many countries have proceeded to use innovative formulas to try to incorporate citizens into decision-making processes. On the one hand, the advance in communication technologies is allowing not only greater access to information, but is also increasing the possibilities of both direct interaction with citizens, as well as the ability to respond to simple demands. On the other hand, a part of the population increasingly demands their proposals to be taken into consideration, not only as a democratic right, but also as a tool for more effective management.In this article we explore the implementation of two specific experiences at the local level with young people, evaluating their impact in small towns at Sierra Norte and the challenges they present for municipalities that wish to implement them in a post pandemic context. We present the methodology used to conduct them and the main findings that might help to reproduce these initiatives.