citizens’ assembly Ireland | The Constitution Unit Blog

This is the first edition of this briefing. It has since been updated. Read the most up-to-date version and other briefings on the Constitution Unit’s website.

Citizens’ assemblies can help policy-makers in developing policy effectively, but their potential role is often misunderstood. Alan Renwick explains what they are, what they are for, how they have been used to date, and how they could be used in the future.

Background

Citizens’ assemblies have recently received significant attention in the UK. Advocates think they can enable more effective policy-making and help overcome public disaffection with politics. Critics worry that they could weaken the central role of elected representatives, or be biased towards particular outcomes. Making headway in this debate requires clear understanding of how such assemblies work and what role they can play.

What is a citizens’ assembly?

A citizens’ assembly is a body of people tasked (normally by policy-makers) with examining a specific issue and making recommendations. Such assemblies typically have 50–150 members, who are carefully selected, using lottery, to be as representative as possible of the wider population.

Assembly meetings generally take place at weekends. A duration of two to six weekends is typical, depending on the size of the topic being addressed, though some assemblies have taken longer.

Members discuss among themselves and hear from a balanced array of witnesses. Facilitators keep the discussions on topic and enable everyone to contribute. Members gradually build their ideas and then agree recommendations, which are presented in a report.

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As the debate about the UK’s relationship with the EU continues to dominate the political agenda, citizens’ assemblies have been mooted by several high profile figures as a possible way to break the Brexit impasse. Here Sarah Allan and Rebecca McKee explain how and why citizens’ assemblies are able to assist and improve the policy-making process through engaging and informing ordinary members of the public.

Citizens’ assemblies have been gathering more attention amongst politicians, the public, and the media in recent weeks. For some this model of public engagement is entirely new. Yet, the history of citizens’ assemblies and methods like them extends back to the 1970s. Since then they have been used around the world to bring together representative groups of the public to deliberate on controversial and complex issues. Countries that have had citizens’ assemblies include Canada, the United States, Australia and Belgium. Most famously Ireland’s citizens’ assembly and constitutional convention played key roles in change on abortion and gay marriage.

The core purpose of a citizens’ assembly is to give decision-makers access to the informed and considered views of the public. A citizens’ assembly can be said to have worked when these three factors are delivered to a high standard. We use the examples of the Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit (CAB) and the Citizens’ Assembly on Social Care (CASC) to show that it is possible to deliver on these principles.

‘The views of those that took part in our citizens’ assembly have been vital in informing our thinking and the model also provides a possible route for further public engagement and building the support that any reforms will need.’ Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.

The public

Is it possible to recruit a representative group of participants?

The primary goal of citizens’ assembly recruitment is to secure a broadly representative sample of the population as assembly members. The population of interest varies depending on the assembly topic. CASC was commissioned to look at the devolved issue of social care, so participants were only recruited from England. CAB dealt with the UK’s exit from the EU, so its membership was UK-wide. Both topics were issues of policy so participants were restricted to those eligible to vote in either general elections for CASC, or the 2016 European Referendum for CAB. Continue reading →

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