Is it just me, or has anyone else been thinking that museums and galleries could help rescue our democracy? There are almost no public spaces left that are non-partisan enough to allow proper debate without trying to sell you something.

Think of lots of other organisations – their focus on advertising revenue or viewing figures or selling copies, or marketing something pollutes their motives for debate. Museums and galleries are still pure in that sense….nothing to sell you except understanding (unless you count trinkets in the shop on your way out). That means they could (should) do democracy very,very well because democracy needs three things: understanding of an issue (tick: museums are mainly about de-coding and explaining things to people); debate, discussion and collective deliberation (tick: museums have the space to discuss, and the skills to facilitate – or know where to find someone that does); and collective decision-making (half a tick: museums could underwrite, referee, and record people’s collective decisions and combine them with others around the country to get some critical mass). It’s their level-headedness and equitable public spaces, both de-contaminated from toxic hidden agenda that make museums special.

Discuss.