Brexit and Deep Democracy

Last week, on Thursday and Friday I attended a workshop on Deep Democracy run by Payam Yuce Isik, in London. Then on Saturday, I joined the many hundreds of thousands of people (maybe a million) walking from Park Lane through Piccadilly to Parliament Square, calling for a new People's Vote on Brexit.

The combination of events was fortuitous timing, and gave me a chance to reflect on some of the Deep Democracy ideas and there seem so many parallels with our current Brexit mess I thought it was worth sharing a few thoughts. I don't have in depth knowledge of deep democracy methodology, so apologies in advance to the experts on any misstatements.

Often when there is a conflict, in politics, business decisions or daily life, one side wins and another loses. The losing side is told to accept the result, get on with it, accept the will of the majority. This is exactly what the 48% of people who voted for Remain in the Brexit Referendum of 2016 have been told ever since. After attending the march on Saturday, friends told me 'we've decided, move on, accept the result'. The problem is that often people don't move on when they lose in a conflict and if they care about the issue, they may demonstrate various forms of resistance.

Deep Democracy has a nice characterisation of common forms of resistance, on a 'Resistance Line' moving in a continuum from sarcastic jokes, through gossip, communication breakdowns, disruption to eventual 'war' or withdrawal. These levels or resistance from the minority lead to an inefficient and ineffective situation for everyone.

Deep Democracy is a method for dealing with conflict, a mindset and a set of tools.

There are a number of steps in the process. One of the key elements is to first listen to all views, and particularly to notice conflicting views. Look for the person saying 'No' and focus on that. 'Spread the No', by looking for who else feels that way, even if just a little bit.

One of the main principles of Deep Democracy is looking for the wisdom in the minority view. There is wisdom in the NO, and if we are going to be successful, we need to benefit from the wisdom of the majority and the minority.

Coming back to Brexit, as I marched with hundreds of thousands of people, I was thinking of the huge amount of wisdom and energy there, that the country is not benefiting from. If we are going to deal with the Brexit crisis effectively, somehow we need to harness the wisdom, energy and insights of the 52% AND the 48%.

We won't get a sustainable solution if the 52% who voted leave believe they have been cheated out of the Brexit they voted for. We also won't get a good solution if we ignore the feelings and insights of the 48% in the minority.

Of course it's true that the Referendum wasn't a good tool for deciding such a complex issue. Those who voted Remain were voting for one thing, the status quo, but those who voted Leave had lots of different ideas what leave actually meant, in terms of our future relation with the EU. It would have been better to ask a much more specific question with a clear outcome so that we all knew what we were voting for.

But now we have to deal with the situation we find ourselves in.

Parliament is deadlocked, our two main political parties are split, and there seems to be no majority in parliament for any option forward. Theresa May might surprise us all and get her deal approved at the third of fourth time of asking in parliament in the coming weeks.

Deep Democracy encourages us to look for what we agree with in the other side's position and see if we can use those insights to build a solution that gets wide support.

The Leavers' concerns about economic inequality, sovereignty and immigration. Remainers' concerns about potential damage to the UK economy and the desire to stay integrated with the rest of Europe. Can we pay attention to all these, and find a way forward?

It's difficult, but I think possible. In practical terms many EU countries already don't apply full freedom of movement and if EU citizens can't find a job after a certain period they have to leave or lose access to certain benefits. Some countries outside the EU remain very integrated with the EU. So there are some ways forward, but our Parliament seems incapable of getting there. Each side becomes more entrenched and more dismissive of the other side.

Deep Democracy offers a specific voting approach for dealing with conflicts. The group that needs to make a decision votes. The majority is identified. Those people who lost the vote are asked what it would take for them to come along with the majority decision. As far as possible those ideas are built into a new proposition, and then that is voted on. This can repeat through several rounds as the proposition is altered and improved until everyone is OK to move forward with a situation. It's not easy, but in the hands of a skilled facilitator or leader it is a powerful tool.

For such a a divisive and important issue as Brexit which will shape the country for many years, it will be impossible to find a solution that completely satisfies everyone, but we can do a lot better than we currently are.

It looks like the UK parliament may consider a series of 'indicative votes' this week to see what different Brexit options might command a majority in the House of Commons. Different methodologies are being discussed at the moment (e.g. whether to vote for each option in turn, or all at once using a multiple choice paper system). These resemble the Deep Democracy methodology and might bring a good solution, but I'm not sure the House of Commons currently has the ability to get itself to the best possible solution.

Deep Democracy facilitators and leaders need the meta-skills of neutrality and compassion, and these are currently sorely lacking in the UK political system.

And of course this is not only true for the UK. Many countries have been divided recently (and often by 52/48 majorities!) Only if we can use compassion and neutrality to find the wisdom in the views of both sides will we move forward with sustainable solutions.

It will be an interesting week in British politics. If anyone has Speaker Bercow's number please let me know so I can put him in touch with a Deep Democracy facilitator. If the participants in Parliament could apply these methodologies, it would greatly improve the lives of future generations here and across Europe.