• Description: Citizens’ assemblies are being used all around the world to tackle problems by bringing people from all walks of life together and giving us the time and information to find the right solution.
  • What is good: 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.
  • HQ Location and Country: In the United Kingdom - 32 Gilbert Close Cambridge CB4 3HR +44 (0) 1394 825 995
  • Operation locations: Also has offices in Australia, USA and Hungary

Sortition Foundation.

When people talk about Participative Democracy they are referring to the use of randomly selected citizens assemblies to assess and make recommendations on difficult topics

How it shows

This organisation facilitates citizens assemblies building up the case empirically by showing that citizens can get to grips with difficult problems.   

Characteristics

Just doing it, getting organised, providing help and resources

Caveats

In a holistic political economy all those parts of the state that are putting policy into action and running things (on behalf of citizens) should have randomly selected citizens as part of their management - this is a more radical position based on the adage 'anything for me, without me, is against me' and it is needed because these agencies, ALMOS etc. are patronage systems and often behave high handily. Ministries can be so large that ministerial oversight is practically none existent; the Information on Public Bodies cited earlier shows ministrial reviews may be bi-annual.