Informed Citizens and Deliberative Democracy
Bill Johnston argues that politicians must keep their promise to use deliberative democratic techniques such as Citizens Assemblies to help strengthen decision-making in policy but also to strengthen our democracy itself by better empowering and informing citizens.
Image Source: Edwin Andrade, Unsplash
As we look ahead to the 2026 Election, starting positions are conflicted. The SNPs plan of using a majority of seats to demand an Independence Referendum has stung critics in the independence camp into mounting arguments against and proposing alternative scenarios. Rachel Reeves, on behalf of the UK government, has stated that there won’t be a referendum anyway, whatever the SNP and the Scottish electorate say.
My aim in this article is to advocate expanding the political realm to include many more citizens in Scottish politics and debates about independence. Consequently, my objective is to challenge the conventional scenario of elections with their short campaign timescales, and information flows dominated by media, pollsters, and career politicians. That process of managed democracy edits and distorts the information needed for reasoned choices into a condensed period with little space for the wider community to unpack the policies on offer and explore alternatives.
The context is a party-political establishment monopolising knowledge, power, and information, heavily influenced by special interests, shaping a state lacking transparency and accountability. Add an often chaotic and unreliable information ecosystem combining news, commentary, and propaganda where dis/misinformation is amplified through substacks, podcasts, websites, and TV channels. The result is a compromised political system and information dystopia where the odds are stacked against the citizenry to challenge and change the status quo.
To rebalance this situation, I suggest developing Information Literacy to enhance democratic engagement. I have described Information Literacy in terms of (i) the techniques individuals and groups use to access sources, formulate searches, and select relevant information, irrespective of digital and other media forms; and (ii) a holistic conception “…wise and ethical use of information in society ...” to enable progressive change. Both conceptions should be integral parts of life in an independent, democratic Scotland, and can play a part in getting us there. (For more on the scope of Information Literacy see Kaufman, and Maybee 2026).
But first, a scenario that grounds Information Literacy in the context of Scottish politics.
Craig Dalzell – Man Against the Machine
I read Craig’s article in the National in November 2025 about his experience of an information search augmented with Gen AI where he discovered the AI chatbot lying to him about a specific party policy position. The lie wasn't huge - whether or not the Scottish Greens supported one of Common Weal’s energy policies - and Craig quickly saw through it. However, it claimed the Scottish Green Party held a certain position and incorrectly linked Craig’s name to an SNP manifesto statement on the matter to evidence the claim. So quite misleading. This episode of misinformation encapsulates Craig’s systematic approach to information seeking and commitment to political truthfulness. For arguments sake I’d describe it as an example of his information literacy in practice.
Coincidentally I’d been at the European Conference on Information Literacy (Ecil) in Germany in September. The conference theme was “Information Literacy in an AI-driven World”, so I was attuned to issues arising from AI in relation to infosystems and concerns over dis/misinformation. (The book of conference abstracts can be accessed here).
What I distilled from these Scottish and international connections was an image of Craig as a representative Scottish citizen seeking information for political purposes. In essence his information literacy incorporated both searching and critical reflection on his encounter with a GenAI tool. Hopefully we will gain more insight into Craig’s information lifeworld in 2026.
… But what of the wider population?
Arguably, a more consciously information literate electorate could increase citizen power within the electoral system making for a healthier democracy. My proposal also leverages Scottish Government policy on Deliberative Democracy and citizen’s assemblies, prizing citizen’s direct involvement in democracy through discussion and debate. Typically, this involves smaller groups, representative recruitment, and practices such as mini-publics, people’s panels, and citizen’s assemblies.
I suggest this model could be enhanced and made more inclusive, ideally focusing on developing critical consciousness of power and inequality, to encourage civic action for social change. To these ends citizen’s assemblies can take a variety of organisational positions alongside the Scottish Government driven model including: top down/bottom up; aligned/non-aligned; community based/organisation based; and could operate in popular campaigning mode, thereby making for a healthier democratic society. International guidance is available (University of Canberra, 2024) and KNOCA (Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies). KNOCA is particularly valuable as a model of iterative learning from experience.
To summarise, I suggest that citizen’s assemblies are organisational forms of debate and civic learning, which can be augmented by ideas from Information Literacy. Thereby countering dis/misinformation and promoting reasoned outcomes.
So how might this approach take shape in the Scottish political demographic, particularly in relation to independence?
The Sovereign People of Scotland as Informed Citizens
The perception of conflict between Scottish Popular sovereignty and English Crown in Parliament sovereignty is common in Independence deliberations. I want to move beyond this dualism by inserting deliberative democracy, with its emphasis on informed decision making, into the narrative. Thus, the sovereign people of Scotland become the informed citizens of both devolved power and a future independent state. Citizen’s assemblies, aligned with Information Literacy, offer a means of developing an informed citizenry to take the concept of the sovereign Scottish people forward into the realm of civic action for change.
Within Scotland there is a political tension between making Devolution work within the UK whilst aspiring to independent statehood. There is space within that dynamic to apply deliberative democracy. Citizen's assemblies, if more widely developed, could presage the kind of state we deserve - devolved or independent. A state entailing greater freedom of information, transparent government, critical consciousness of power and inequality and active citizenship. Thereby engaging more citizens in developing their own consciousness distinct from the narrow boundaries of conventional electioneering.
Conclusion: The information Literate Citizen and Scottish Democracy
I have outlined a notion of Information Literacy as a key element of civic engagement within the practice of deliberative democracy. How could this contribute to thinking about independence, particularly with an election in 2026?
Firstly, by adopting and adapting the evolving concept of Information Literacy. The dispositions, capacities and organisations entailed are at a premium, given the incidence of mis/disinformation driven by misuse of powerful technologies and a weak regulatory system. This misuse of digital power is being challenged from the bottom up by Europe’s digital justice movement for young people . Such developments need to be matched by systematic educational initiatives encompassing the whole information and media environment.
Secondly, by taking the opportunity to expand deliberative democracy. This could be achieved by creating a strategic timetable for advance beyond the outcome of the 2026 election. The 2026 election is an opportunity to enrich policy on Deliberative Democracy by committing to organising citizen’s assemblies on a national scale. All parties should be supportive and should be criticised if they aren’t.
In terms of the Independence debate, the SNP intention to use 2026 as a lever towards a referendum would be helped if there was a civic society platform to explore the questions raised. This was not part of the 2014 referendum, which despite a more extended time frame and considerable public support didn’t innovate standard campaign methods. Expanding deliberative democracy approaches would also complement existing independence movements organising separately from the SNP.
The 2026 Scottish election will be followed within a few years by the next UK General election. At time of writing much is being said about the democratic threat posed by populist, right wing movements and the weak responses from the UK government and official opposition. However, when populists are confronted there is scope to make a different sense of the world and explore possibilities for challenge and change (McNeiil et al 2020) beyond the confines of conventional politics.
In the face of populist threats to the UK Parliament, the strategic question of Scottish independence and a future Scottish state becomes crucial. So, I suggest that we use 2026 to press for an ongoing civic debate on independence using citizen’s assemblies as a key tactic.
References
Kaufmann, K., & Maybee, C. (2026). Information literacy handbook: Charting the discipline. Facet.
McKee, R., & Pannell, J. (2024). Citizens' assemblies: What are citizens' assemblies and how do they work? Institute for Government. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/citizens-assemblies University of Canberra. (2024). Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance. https://www.delibdem.org/
MacNeill, S., Johnston, B. and Smyth, K. (2020) Critical engagement for active participation and reflection in the digital university in an age of populism. In E. Michelson and A. Mandell (Eds) (2020) Adult learning in the age of Trump and Brexit. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No 165, Spring 2020, pp. 115-127. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20372.”