< Activity: Case Studies
Has this been proven to work?
Yes. They work because they create democracy under the best conditions. Instead of people arguing to make the other side look bad, using tax payer’s dollars to retain their seat or voting just to appease their donors (our current political system), they bring a group together that reflects the makeup of the population to find common ground and solutions they can live with.
They’re increasingly being used all around the world. So much so that the OECD calls it the “deliberative wave” and has documented over 300 worldwide.
They’ve been used in places including Ireland, Brazil, France, Canada, Malawi, Germany and Belguim.
The Irish Citizens’ Assemblies
Case Study 1
Established in 2016 the Irish Citizens’ Assembly is a recurring deliberative body of 99 citizens selected by lot who have deliberated, and provided recommendations to the Irish Oireachtas on a range of topics.Toronto Planning Review Panel
Case Study 2
Over 2 years, 28 randomly selected Torontonians collaborated together to input on major planning initiatives across the city including guidelines on apartments, parks & recreational facilities and urban planning.Democracy in Geelong
Case Study 3
After the Geelong City Council was dismissed in 2016, a group of 100 citizens selected by lot convened to consider how they wanted to be democratically represented and in a ground-breaking process (no other community had ever had the chance to influence its council structure to this extent) they designed their own local council electoral system.
