About the lecture:
It’s easy to feel skeptical about democracy. It’s even easier to be skeptical about the public. But in this year’s Meisel lecture, Peter MacLeod makes the case for why much of the dysfunction and polarization within western democracies can only be undone when we fundamentally change our relationship with the public. As he argues, it’s not that people are impossibly divided or disinterested in politics, it’s that we fail to tap into the capability of citizens to create public value or play an expanded role in the work of governing. Democratic norms should not be taken for granted and recent domestic and global events demonstrate why they must be regenerated. In response to this challenge, MacLeod describes an audacious vision that seeks to re-energize politics by dramatically expanding the public’s role in the next chapter of our democratic evolution.

About the speaker:
Peter MacLeod is the principal of MASS LBP and one of Canada’s leading experts in public engagement and deliberative democracy. Since its founding in 2007, MASS has completed more than 250 major policy projects for governments and public agencies across Canada while popularizing the use of Civic Lotteries and Citizens’ Assemblies, and earning international recognition for its work.

He writes and speaks frequently about the citizen’s experience of the state, the importance of public imagination, and the future of responsible government.