Tel Aviv University is launching a groundbreaking and unprecedented project of open politics: “Democracy@TAU”.
The entire campus will take part in deliberating and deciding on a key issue through an ongoing dialogue among the university’s “citizens,” a student assembly that will engage in indepth discussion, and a campus-wide referendum open to all students, staff and faculty.
At the heart of this initiative lies a unique academic course: the first of its kind in the world, designed to offer a ray of hope for Israeli society amid a deep and growing crisis of political legitimacy. The student assembly, selected by random sampling, will deliberate on the current crisis, explore possible remedies, and focus especially on the core issue that will later be presented to the entire campus for a referendum.
Does representative democracy truly represent opinions, positions, and identities? What are the strengths and weaknesses of its alternatives? In the course "Democracy@TAU" (“Yashir VeLa’inyan”) that is, within the student assembly we will explore, in practice, whether and how it is possible to build a different kind of democracy: one that fosters open, not closed politics; where citizens - not politicians or influencers - lead; that strives for truth and mutual trust, rather than deception and blind loyalty; that takes place in an agora of respectful dialogue, deep and deliberation, rather than a gladiatorial arena; a democracy in which each and every one of us, together, takes part in making crucial decisions and assuming responsibility for our shared destiny.
Throughout the course, we will examine the advantages and shortcomings of electoral democracy in contrast to a multi-dimensional democracy: delegative, deliberative, and direct, in which public delegates serve as facilitators for the true decision-makers: the citizens themselves, who deliberate and decide collectively on key issues.
