A citizens’ assembly is a participatory process where a randomly selected group of citizens learn about and deliberate upon a specific issue or policy, and collectively come up with recommendations for decision makers.
Name of Method
Brief description
At its most basic, a citizens’ assembly aims to bring together a group of everyday people who broadly reflect the wider community, to deliberate on an important public issue and based on extensive learning and deliberation, provide recommendations. Recommendations can be on a specific policy, or more broadly on an issue. The assembly’s recommendations should inform policy and decisionmakers.
Type/Level of Method
Challenges
By following a rigorous engagement process, stakeholders with different views, as well as members of the broader public, are more likely to accept the outcome even if it is not their preferred outcome – because they can see that the decision-making process was robust and fair.
Bringing together everyday people who are not highly partisan or constrained by election cycles can help encourage longer term thinking. It can also help broader publics to see themselves, or ‘people like me’ reflected in the randomly selected participants, which can enhance the sense that their interests are represented.
Problem, Purpose and Needs
Relevance to Climate Neutrality
Challenges
Thematic Areas
Impact Goals
Issue Complexity
Issue Polarisation
Enabling Condition
- There should be sufficient budget and planning in place so that organisers and authorities can stay in touch with the assembly participants and support them in their own communities.
- It is crucial that the assembly has sufficient resources to engage with broader publics. This can happen in a number of ways, including public submissions to the assembly, online platform discussions running parallel, outreach and community engagement activities which connect to the assembly, and establishing relationships with various media outlets to engage a wider audience in both the topic and the process.
Essential Considerations for Commissioning Authorities
- In the best case scenario, further assemblies or follow on processes are also set up, either involving some of the same participants, or new randomly selected participants. These may be fulfil different roles in the policy cycle such as monitoring implementation of the recommendations or further refinement during policy development.
- Commissioning authorities should provide a very clear mandate and remit for a citizens’ assembly, such that a) it is clear from the outset how the recommendations will be taken up and followed and b) there is a clear question/issue presented to the assembly that is not too broad (which can result in the deliberation and recommendations remaining at too general a level for them to be practically useful).
- Commissioning authorities usually engage an expert, independent organisation to recruit, organise and facilitate a citizens’ assembly.
- Commissioning authorities should embrace a culture of openness around the rationale and decisionmaking process around the citizens’ assembly, such that it can stand up to public scrutiny.
Engagement Journey
Governance Models and Approaches
Enabling Conditions
Democratic Purpose
Spectrum of participation
Communication Channels
Actors and Stakeholder Relationships
- Typically, a public authority commissions a citizens’ assembly (although it can be a civil society organisation) and other organisations work with decisionmakers and stakeholders to design, oversee and implement the process. Decisionmakers and stakeholders should remain at arms length from the actual organisation and running decisions, so that the assembly remains independent and credible – not pressured or interfered with by powerful interests. This undermines the integrity and credibility of the assembly and its outcomes.
- An advisory group should oversee the entire process, made up of stakeholders with different perspectives. Increasingly, citizens and participants also have a say in the design and procedure as well, including selecting the experts they want to hear from, and adapting the process design. This more collaborative approach enables greater participant ownership of the process and makes it more democratic.
- Industry, science and technology, and academia may perform different functions including joining the advisory group, providing expert evidence to the assembly, and observing and evaluating the process.
Participant Numbers
Actors and Stakeholders
Participant Recruitment
Interaction between participants
Format
Social Innovation Development Stage
Scope
Time commitment
A citizens’ assembly requires a significant time commitment, with participants often meeting repeatedly over a period of several months. As well as the actual days of the assembly, sufficient time for proper planning and preparation beforehand is required, as well as time for following up recommendations and responses.
Resources and Investments
Usually running a citizens’ assembly requires expertise in facilitation, recruitment and other aspects of process design, as well as significant financial resourcing for staffing, venues, stipends, catering, childcare and transport costs for participants, and other costs.
Typical duration
Resources and Investments
In-house
Step by Step
1. Preparation phase
- Commissioning authorities need to think about why they want to convene a citizens’ assembly, and have a clear rationale and honesty about their expectations. They should be clear and transparent from the outset how they intend to receive and respond to any outputs.
- Important to note that people working in and with the city government should have the opportunity to learn about the approach and get on board with the process.
- Then a topic for the assembly is chosen with the possible collaboration with a range of stakeholders with diverse perspectives, which can include citizens. This helps to ensure that stakeholders and citizens feel ownership and autonomy around the process.
- A governance body should be organised made up with a range of stakeholders and external experts who are knowledgeable about the process. They provide advice throughout the process on best practice and providing further information on the topic.
2. Recruitment
- Citizens are selected through random stratified selection, with the aim of achieving a group that is broadly representative of the wider community. An external organisation specialising in this is usually recruited. A range of demographic criteria can be included including gender, age, education, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and more. Some assemblies also stratify for attitudes or political affiliation to ensure that there is diversity in these terms as well.
- Participants are financially compensated for their labour. In addition, the assembly can further support participation with e.g. childcare and transport costs.
3. Orientation and learning
- Facilitators and organisers work to ensure that participants feel welcome, secure and comfortable. This is done through exercises to build a sense of common purpose and intention.
- Participants learn more about their task and how their input will be used by the city. City government representatives should be present and meet participants.
- Participants begin to learn about the issue at hand. Typically, this is done through presentations, Q&As, videos, written material from a range of experts in the subject. They may include site visits or tours, lived experience and testimony from people affected by or knowledgeable about the issue. It is crucial that participants hear a diversity of views and they have the opportunity to request more information and call for certain speakers to contribute.
4. Deliberation
- Participants deliberate over the information provided during the learning phase, related issues, and possible recommendations. Discussions are usually guided by a facilitator/s whose role it is to support the participants and guide them through the process – not guide them towards a specific outcome.
5. Recommendations
- Participants work together to draft, refine and define recommendations that they will present to commissioning authorities. This usually requires some kind of decisionmaking process which can vary. It might involve a vote, it might be consensus-based. It usually allows for the inclusion of a minority viewpoint.
- The preparation of recommendations is best done either by participants themselves or in collaboration with them and the organisers. Minority views should be included in the final report and members of the assembly typically present their final outputs to commissioning authorities.
6. Response and follow up
- Authorities then provide an official response to the assembly by explaining how they are going to use the assembly’s recommendations, following the commitments given at the outset.
- Commissioning authorities then provide regular updates on the progress of action on the recommendations, such as policy development, funding and implementation.
Evaluation
Citizens’ Assemblies should be evaluated according to process (how well was it organised and run, participant experience, integrity and quality of the process) and outcomes (quality of recommendations, government response, which recommendations were implemented, how are authorities held accountable).
Connecting Methods
Flexibility and Adaptability
Existing Guidelines and Best Practice
Citizens' Assemblies. Basic standards for organising citizens' assemblies. Retrieved from https://citizensassemblies.org/standards/
Gerwin, M. (2018). Citizens' Assemblies. Guide to democracy that works. Retrieved from https://citizensassemblies.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Citizens-Assemblies_EN_web.pdf
OECD. Good Practice Principles for Deliberative Processes for Public Decision Making. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/gov/open-government/good-practice-principles-for-deliberative-processes-for-public-decision-making.pdf
References and Further Resources
Citizens' Assemblies. Basic standards for organising citizens' assemblies. Retrieved from https://citizensassemblies.org/standards/
Gerwin, M. (2018). Citizens' Assemblies. Guide to democracy that works. Retrieved from https://citizensassemblies.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Citizens-Assemblies_EN_web.pdf
Knowledge Network On Climate Assemblies. Retrieved from https://knoca.eu/
OECD. Good Practice Principles for Deliberative Processes for Public Decision Making. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/gov/open-government/good-practice-principles-for-deliberative-processes-for-public-decision-making.pdf