What is a Citizens' Assembly?

A citizens’ assembly brings together a broadly representative bunch of people, selected by lottery, to decide how we should live together. It’s really that simple.

The organisers of the Canadian National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform made a short video explaining what citizens’ assemblies are all about:

What are the key components of a citizens’ assembly?

Broadly speaking, a citizens’ assembly has two components:

  1. A democratic lottery in which a group of people are randomly selected to participate in the assembly.
  2. A process of deliberation. This is the assembly itelf: the assembly members come together, over a period of time, to learn about the issue, discuss it, and form recommendations about how to move forward.

What makes a good citizens’ assembly?

The OECD’s Innovative Citizen Participation group, in its report “Catching the Deliberative Wave: Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions” outline eleven “good practice principles” for deliberative citizens’ assemblies, which we have paraphrased here:

  1. Purpose: The aim should be clear, phrased neutrally, and linked to a well-defined public problem.

  2. Accountability: The outcome should influence public decisions. At a bare minimum the government should publicly respond to the participants’ recommendations, and preferably act on them.

  3. Transparency: The design, processes, and final reports should be available for public scrutiny, and all funding sources disclosed.

  4. Representative: The participants should be a representative microcosm of the general public, selected by lottery. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to be selected to participate.

  5. Inclusive: considering how to involve under-represented groups is important, and participation should be supported through remuneration, expenses, and/or providing or paying for childcare and eldercare.

  6. Information: Participants should have access to a wide range of accurate, relevant, and accessible evidence and expertise, including experts and advocates chosen by the citizens themselves.

  7. Deliberation: The process should facilitate participants in finding common ground for their collective recommendations.

  8. Time: adequate time for participants to learn, weigh the evidence, and develop informed recommendations must be given. Typically participants should meet for at least four full days.

  9. Integrity: The process should be run independently of the commissioning public authority.

  10. Privacy: There should be respect for participants’ privacy to protect them from undesired media attention and harassment, as well as to preserve participants’ independence.

  11. Evaluation: anonymous evaluation by the participants to assess the process should be conducted (e.g. on quantity and diversity of information, amount of time devoted to learning, independence of facilitation). The deliberative process should also be evaluated on the impact of final outcomes and implemented recommendations.

Further reading

  1. The UK deliberative democracy sector have developed draft standards for citizens’ assemblies. These expand on the principles listed above.

What is deliberation?

What do we mean when we say that citizens' assemblies are a form of "deliberative democracy"?