Background
We are working for practical change rather than media coverage. However, here are a few items for background if you would care to draw on them.
Letter to the Financial Times: Citizens’ assemblies are an underused political gift
Your editorial (“Biden’s domestic agenda is beginning to stall”, June 18) suggests the gridlock of representative democracy in the US needs to be overcome by appealing to what the polls repeatedly show is an electorate which is far less polarised than its representatives.
Democracies across the planet are now proving the new tools to make this happen.
A microcosm of a nation’s citizens — impartially selected and independently deliberating — could easily offer to the presidency and legislature a legitimate and public consensus on a key range of issues starting with police powers, voting rights and infrastructure spending.
These gifts of citizens’ assemblies would carry immense weight, meriting serious consideration from all elected representatives.
They could be used regularly by the US and other democracies including our own. Since winning the concept of one person one vote, it has been effective citizens’ engagement between elections which has been the missing piece in the evolution of our democracies.
The 1770s were an epoch-making decade for democracy. The 2020s can be a time for a quieter, but no less significant, step to help us win the battle between democracy and autocracy.
Graham Allen, Convenor of the Citizens’ Convention for UK Democracy; Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform
Letter to The Times: Citizens’ assemblies
The CCUKDemocracy had a letter published in The Times making the case for citizens’ assemblies in the UK. The letter responds to a piece by David Aaronovitch in the same paper, ‘The Jackie Weaver effect won’t last forever’
The Times Letters
Sir, David Aaronovitch (“The Jackie Weaver effect won’t last for ever”, Feb 11) is right to point to the progress made in using citizens’ assemblies. Traditional politics is dysfunctional and lacks processes that have the trust of electors, threatening the future of democracy itself. Elected representatives need a helping hand and a new partner in citizens themselves. A citizens’ assembly is an impartial microcosm of the country. It meets and discusses in good conditions – no parliamentary-style barracking – a key issue of the day. Throughout the world this calm, inclusive and thoughtful process is addressing previously intractable problems, such as the abortion issue in Ireland. When all else fails you can always try listening to everyday people.
Graham Allen, Convener, Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy; chairman, Commons committee on political and constitutional reform, 2010-15
CCUKDemocracy appears on Conservative Home and the Social Liberal Forum
The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy has featured on both Conservative Home and the Social Liberal Forum. Convenor of the CCUKDemocracy, Graham Allen, explains why now is the time to renew our democratic system through a thorough and inclusive deliberative process with all-party support, and how the CCUKDemcracy aims to do just that.
You can read the Conservative article here, and the piece on the Social Liberal Forum here.
“Democracy is under threat, not least because it has failed to evolve. But the next era of democracy is taking shape - and a Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy is the way to bring that new mode of democracy to these proud islands.”
Building political trust for deliberative processes
Graham Allen, Convener of the CCUKDemocracy, was recently interviewed as part of the OECD’s Participo Series, New Democratic Institutions: Interviews with Practioners.
“My key message for everyone involved in deliberative democracy is: sort out the political endgame before you do any further work.”
Packed full of insights on deliberation, politics and the CCUKDemocracy, the full interview can be found on the Participo Medium page by clicking here.
CCUKDemocracy responds to Labour’s plans for a UK-wide Constitutional Commission
Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, has announced that the Labour Party will set up a Constitutional Commission in the New Year to ‘consider how power, wealth and opportunity can be devolved to the most local level.’
The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy welcomes properly structured reviews on democracy from all parties. Such reviews – like our own Proposal to HMG – are strongest when they are led by citizens, use impartial and trusted deliberative democracy, and engage meaningfully with all parties and governments.
Letter to the FT: Britain deploys ‘one eyed approach to democracy’
Incompetence is indeed “the real threat to democracy”, as Janan Ganesh writes (Opinion, October 29). That is one reason why all four UK-wide political parties — tapping into the public mood — promised some kind of review of democracy in their most recent manifestos.
The battle for the franchise is won but the realisation of the other half of the democratic prize, the meaningful engagement of citizens, is only just beginning. Without adding the culture and techniques of deliberative democracy to sensibly and repeatedly engage with citizens we continue to self-limit our democracy to a one-eyed strategy of occasional frozen electoral snapshots. The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy this month sent a proposal to the government on the processes by which citizens themselves could recommend how to update and evolve our democracy and join in partnership with our parliament and government.
We await their response. Working out how citizens can have a stake in and build competence into their democratic future is a job that needs to start now. To misquote Gandhi if asked today what he thought of western democracy (rather than its civilisation), he might repeat “it would be good for them to try it”.
Graham Allen
Convener of the CCUKDemocracy
Letter to the FT: Democracy has a chance to prove its relevance
The CCUKDemocracy had a letter published in the Financial Times making the case for citizens’ deliberation ahead of the Government’s Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission. The letter responds to Martin Wolf’s Big Read article in the same paper: ‘Democracy will fail if we don’t think as citizens’.
FT letters
As Martin Wolf rightly points out, “We must think as citizens” (The Big Read, July 6) if we are to put our democracies on a sounder footing. Democracy is not a steady state. It has to be constantly maintained and burnished. If it is not, then people lose faith, and the shell of democracy can be quickly inhabited by its enemies.
It seemed many democrats of all persuasions felt that after a century of ultimately successfully seeking “votes for all”, the job was done. The reality is there has to be a constant evolution to make democracy understood, relevant and sustainable. That is why we welcome the 2019 manifesto commitments of all UK-wide political parties to review our democracy.
The threats of political complacency, popular scepticism, unregulated social media and institutional sclerosis all need to have a coherent democratic response. One of the new tools which is being put to work globally is the inclusion of our citizens within the democratic decision-making process by deliberative democracy. Here microcosms of the population thoughtfully and impartially consider problems often deemed intractable through existing processes.
The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy has put a proposal on how citizens’ deliberation can take place ahead of the proposed commission on the constitution, democracy and rights. We await their positive response. This rare moment to replenish citizens’ engagement in our democracy should be seized — it may not come again.
Graham Allen
Convener of the CCUKDemocracy
Bringing together a divided nation
We recently wrote to the Guardian calling on the government to involve citizens and use deliberative democracy in their proposed Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission.
Guardian letters
The commitments in all the main UK parties' manifestos to set up an assembly, convention or commission to review our democracy was a rare and welcome piece of political unity. The government has now pledged to bring forward its commission on the constitution, democracy and rights (Report, 14 February).
There will be some whose default position will be to blindly oppose the commission as partisan and elitist. Others will say the government should use its new majority to impose whatever it likes. Both ends of this bell curve are wrong. Most of us know that our democracy desperately needs a review, and it needs to be a review where citizens themselves can engage, deliberate and be heard.
This balance can be simply achieved by government beginning its review process by using the globally tried-and-tested tools of deliberative democracy. These are online and offline, including scientifically-selected microcosms of the UK to populate citizens' assemblies and a well-resourced and independently refereed national conversation. These techniques would carefully discover and distil people's practical proposals to be then sent to the commission. The government would then use its electoral legitimacy to take forward recommendations through the normal parliamentary procedures of acceptance, rejection or amendment.
Having a citizens’ contribution using the sensible and thoughtful deliberative processes that are now on offer, there would be a real chance that the outcome would not only be reforming, respected and sustainable, but also widely discussed, understood and accepted across our many false divides.
We and the government should not waste this unique opportunity.
Graham Allen, Convener of the CCUKD
Could you help shape the future of UK democracy?
The BBC reported on the Convention. The article covers the plan for the process, what will be discussed and who can get involved. It also gives some examples of deliberative democracy in action from around the world.
We are trying to renew British politics and strike a blow for democracy — now we need your help
The Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy, has also written in the Independent online. He explains why a Citizens’ Convention on democracy in the UK offers a vital opportunity for the country.
“Deliberation by citizens regularly generates sound, legitimate and imaginative recommendations. And it has the happy result, in these divisive times, of vastly improving our faith in democracy, and in one another.”
We have also explained why we should be talking about democracy in the UK right now on Talk Radio, as well as discussing the Citizens’ Convention on the Today programme (from 39 mins).
Deliberative Democracy in the media
Deliberative democracy is making waves around the world. We’ll be compiling the latest coverage, resources and information on the subject here.
Involve have published a collection of 54 participatory methods and tools on their website. There is detailed info on each approach, including its costs, level of participation, what they should be used for and their respective strengths and weaknesses.
A really useful resource for any organisation looking to engage meaningfully with the public.
The Economist: Some assembly required
The Economist have published two excellent articles on the increasing popularity of citizens’ assemblies. They include an international overview of recent assemblies and comments from participants and a range of experts. The author praises their ability to produce sensible, compromise solutions on difficult, seemingly intractable policy issues; but notes that that they work best when governments have committed to listening.
“Citizens’ assemblies are good, in short, at coming up with solutions to thorny or polarising issues in which politicians have been captured by their party’s extremes. But they work best if they follow some rules. To start with, national politicians must embrace them.”
Climate Assembly UK, the first UK-wide citizens’ assembly on climate change, has published its final report. The report contains over 50 coherent, achievable recommendations for how the UK should go about reaching its legally binding net zero emissions by 2050 target. Produced by a representative cross-section of society, the report gives a unique insight into the public’s preferences, priorities and values when it comes to tackling climate change.
The Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, Alok Sharma, spoke at the launch of the report. He acknowledged the value of working with a dedicated group of citizens on the issue and said its recommendations would be carefully examined and inform the government’s approach.
In leading to such a comprehensive and practical series of proposals, the experience of Climate Assembly UK adds to the evidence for the efficacy and value of public deliberation and citizens’ assemblies.
The inspiring report launch, which featured participants, the Chairs of the commissioning select committees and the BEIS Secretary, is worth catching up on in full online. There is also a shorter, executive summary of the report that can be found here.
The Innovation in Democracy Programme (IiDP) have published an exciting new set of resources from the project, which completed its activities last year.
IiDP was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to trial deliberative democratic methods as a way of involving citizens in local government decision-making. It supported three local authorities (Cambridge, Test Valley and Dudley) to involve residents in tackling a local issue through a citizens’ assembly. The programme was run in partnership with Involve, DemSoc, the RSA and MySociety and led by CCUKD Advisory Board member Miriam Levin at DCMS.
They have produced a handbook for running local citizens’ assemblies based on insights from the programme alongside a case studies document with responses from the council staff that led each assembly. There is also an independent evaluation document and a brilliant short film documenting the experience of participants in the assemblies. All in all, an important suite of new resources that will be extremely helpful for practitioners and will hopefully encourage more local authorities to run deliberative processes in the future.
House of Lords Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee Report (June 2020)
Vital new report from special Lords Select Committee examining the increasingly central relationship between technology and democracy. The report calls for regulation of online platforms that makes them responsible for the content their algorithms promote, in order to tackle what the Committee’s Chair, Lord Puttnam, has described as “a pandemic of misinformation and disinformation”.
The report goes beyond this to recommend new measures to create an active digital citizenry, equipped with the critical digital literacy skills to be empowered and effective. The Committee have also added theirs to the many voices calling for reform of electoral law to make it fit for the online age. In total 45 important recommendations are made.
Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions
Catching the Deliberative Wave
Substantial new report from OECD Governance which brings together extensive new evidence about the use of deliberative processes around the world. The report’s comparative analysis of different models and identification of trends represents the most comprehensive resource on deliberative processes yet available. It also contains principles of good practice for deliberative initiatives, elaborated on the basis of input from leading practitioners, academics and civil servants. Finally, it explores the crucial question of whether and how they should be institutionalised. Essential reading for deliberative democrats.
an essential guide to assessing online voting systems for use in elections
CCUKD Advisory Board member and director of WebRoots Democracy Areeq Chowdhury has produced this important and timely new report on online voting systems. The report sets out 33 key principles covering accessibility, security and user experience. It also reviews the existing literature on the subject, outlines the challenges and opportunities of online voting and puts forward a ratings system that weights the principles by importance.
As much deliberation goes digital for the foreseeable future, online voting systems will be increasingly essential for practitioners of deliberative democracy and this piece of work a useful guide. A short article on the report can be found here.
The antidote of deliberative democracy is gaining ground
Round up from the Berggruen Institute looking at how deliberative democracy offers a form of politics that mediates between populist participation and technocratic administration. It includes details of the constitutional deliberations going on in Chile and Iceland, as well as the French Climate Assembly and upcoming referendums in New Zealand. An excellent summary which includes much for deliberative democrats to be optimistic about.
“For citizens, deliberative democracy offers a robust platform for their voices to be heard and heeded. For the good governance of society, it avoids the populist sins of ignorance, demagoguery and utopian fantasies by introducing expertise and practices of reasoned deliberation into the great opening toward citizen engagement enabled by digital connectivity.”
As Britain goes to the polls, the Belgians are turning to randomly-chosen representatives. Could they do any better? By Elian Glaser
Glaser tells the story behind the world’s first permanent Citizens’ Assembly, set to be built into the governance of Belgium’s German-speaking region. The somewhat sceptical author gives a sweeping account of experiments in deliberative democracy, as well as its origins and rationale.
“There’s a difference between healthy ideological polarity—which is needed to animate a democracy—and the unproductive polarisation that sortition advocates reasonably wish to minimise”
newDemocracy Foundation have teamed up with the UN Democracy Fund to produce this brilliant, comprehensive reference work. Described as a ‘‘how-to’ guide for the design and operation of more substantive and considered ways to make trusted democratic decisions,’ this handbook has different sections for different audiences, from politicians to facilitators to the general public. This hugely valuable resource has been put together by leading experts in the field.
Revitalising our Politics through Public Deliberation – Professor James Fishkin at the RSA
Following on from Matthew Taylor’s RSA Chief Executive Lecture on deliberative democracy, another CCUKD Advisory Board member, Professor James Fishkin, spoke at the RSA on deliberation. Fishkin talks through some of the ideas in his book Democracy When the People Are Thinking (2018) and argues that deliberative democracy is not utopian – rather, it is a practical solution to many of democracy’s ills and can supplement existing institutions with practical reforms.
What Democracy Needs Now – Matthew Taylor’s RSA Chief Executive Lecture
Back in July 2018, CCUKD Advisory Board member Matthew Taylor used his twelfth annual RSA Chief Executive’s Lecture to call for the institutionalisation of deliberative democracy within our political system in order to bolster and protect liberal democracy. In his talk he proposes that government sponsor 3 citizens’ assemblies a year on topics chosen respectively by parliament, government and the public. He was joined by the Irish academic Clodagh Harris, a specialist in the theory and practice of deliberative and participative democracy, and Director of Involve Tim Hughes for a discussion of recent citizens’ assemblies.
The Citizens’ Assembly on Social Care
Short, uplifting video from Involve about the Citizens’ Assembly on Social Care, held in 2018. Features testimonies from several members of the Assembly, who touch on what it was like to be included, the importance of listening to citizens and the respectfulness of the process. Well worth a watch.