Jagland held that civil society participation is vital to democracy. However, this participation can take many different forms. While recognising the important role played by NGOs, he warned against making an equation between NGOs and civil society. NGOs only represent parts of a larger society. Democracy requires that all groups of society be able or raise their voices and participate in the public debate. Public assistance and funding will mainly go to the well organised and political strong NGOs. These are the groups who manage well to get their voice heard. In a mediatized society, there is in addition a tendency of some NGOs seeking conflict and big headlines rather than more nuanced political debates.
Jagland argued that the there is a need for stronger links between politics and science and research. Researchers and scientists should to a larger extent inform the debate of parliamentarians. The World is changing rapidly; still many fundamental questions remain the same, and often unanswered. To quote Albert Einstein who was once asked by his students why he always put the same questions to them; it is because the answers have not changed.
Participatory democracy will not automatically lead to direct democracy – which would hardly be feasible to manage in any society. To be able to take action and govern, some kind of representation is necessary. What is important is the quality of the political debate, and the ability of parliamentarians and other to listen to criticism and learn from past experience. Political parties should again come to the forefront as the genuine link between politics and the public, Jagland claimed.