“Lottery-selected democracy is no panacea, but it is an example of a complex design that directly counters many of the threats facing our democracy today. It guarantees representation of many identities rather than relying on those who have the time, confidence, and resources to show up. It fosters collaboration more concretely than one-directional community engagement. […]
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JORGE CASUSO “September 25, 2023 — The future of Santa Monica Airport should be hammered out — not by the usual community activists and civic volunteers — but by randomly selected “everyday people,” City officials told the City Council Monday. The information item from top Public Works officials proposes using a democratic lottery to “engage
Randomly Chosen Panel Should Guide Airport’s Future, Officials Say Read More »
AMELIA PARREIRA ARGUS-COURIER STAFF March 2, 2022, 12:15PM To form the panel of 30 to 40 residents, potential candidates would be invited to participate through a mailed letter sent to 10,000 randomly selected residences. The letter would ask those residents to respond by filling out a questionnaire which would ask for demographic information such as
Here’s how the controversial new Petaluma fairgrounds planning process will work Read More »
A Citizens Assembly Could Unify People Around a Thorny Problem and Succeed Where Politicians Have Failed by JOE MATHEWS | FEBRUARY 22, 2022 The tool is called the citizens assembly.While getting elected to the legislature without a permanent address is nearly impossible, one democratic virtue of the citizens assembly is that it could specifically include a significant plurality of people who
Let the People of California Solve the State’s Homelessness Crisis Read More »
TYLER SILVY ARGUS-COURIER EDITOR February 9, 2022 Eager to find a solution to the quandary, Petaluma City Manager Peggy Flynn recently unveiled an entirely new approach that would utilize a novel “democratic lottery process,” the exact opposite of “politics as usual.” Healthy Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit consulting firm with a solid track record of helping
By Susan Clark, originally published by Resilience.org Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) gives an old system a much-needed update. The initiative and referendum system, used in two dozen American states and many cities, allows voters to create public policy through ballot measures. In Oregon, leaders were concerned that this direct democracy process, while allowing voters substantial power, was missing
Democracy Rising 8: Deliberative Democracy — Power Read More »
Guest opinion article written by Sue Malek for the Missoulian: Should we enact Citizen Initiative Review Commissions (CIRCs)* in Montana? A bipartisan bill in the Oregon Legislature established CIRCs in 2008. Twenty-four citizens, randomly selected to serve, are paid salaries and expenses for participation in groups that study initiative issues and publish a statement describing
Opinion: Citizen Initiative Review Commissions Provide Deeper Involvement in Democracy Read More »
From Portland Tribune: Forty Oregonians, just under half the size of the Legislature, will meet online during the next six weeks to help chart a course for the state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Chosen at random and reflective of the population, they will take part in a statewide assembly that mirrors Oregon’s decade-long citizen review
First Statewide Online Assembly Will Look at Coronavirus Recovery Read More »
From KTVZ News Channel 21: PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregonians from all walks of life will participate in the state’s first virtual Citizen Assembly to weigh in on what could be some of the state’s most important policy considerations in a generation. The virtual Citizen Assembly, a pilot project of nonpartisan, nonprofit Healthy Democracy and Oregon’s Kitchen Table, will
Oregonians to weigh in on COVID-19 recovery issues in ‘virtual citizen assembly’ Read More »
From medium.com/participo: Linn Davis is a program manager at Healthy Democracy, a US-based nonpartisan non-profit that designs and coordinates deliberative democracy programs. He manages the Citizens’ Initiative Review program, as well as design and outreach for emerging local government and high school programs. The Citizens’ Initiative Review is a unique deliberative process. In the OECD’s forthcoming
Citizens’ Initiative Review: Helping Citizens Make Better Informed Voting Choices Read More »
From swissinfo.ch: A Swiss experiment bringing together a group of citizens to prepare an informational sheet for February’s national vote has completed its first stage. Voting up to four times a year, as the Swiss do, is a nice democratic right, but it also means keeping up with a lot of topics. Usually this means following
Do you trust your fellow citizens more than your leaders? Read More »
From Ruralite: On a Saturday morning in August, Mike and Jeanney McArthur gather in their living room with urban visitors who have made the 120-mile journey east from Portland, Oregon, to learn about their life in rural Sherman County. It’s a tight fit, but there is room for all. Through the window, the view of
Bridging the Urban Rural Divide Read More »
From Salon: . . . What’s a good regional example? At the regional/state level, it is worth highlighting the impact of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) model, which has been institutionalized in Oregon — and is now required before a ballot measure — and has been piloted in numerous other states, as well as in Finland and
From Clackamas Review: Milwaukie city officials this month received a ruling from a Citizens Jury on Council Compensation calling for increased salaries for elected officials. Milwaukie city councilors currently get a monthly stipend of $250, with the mayor receiving $300 a month. Milwaukie councilors each get a Microsoft Surface laptop, and the entire council has an
Milwaukie jury: Pay elected officials more Read More »
From swissinfo.ch: The municipality of Sion in southwestern Switzerland is planning a participative democracy experiment, first tried out in the US state of Oregon, that places randomly selected locals on a citizen panel in the lead up to national referendums. Various inhabitants of the canton Valais municipality will be asked to form a citizen panel that
Swiss town tests citizen panel to help voters analyse information Read More »
From The Constitution Unit at University College London: The report, Doing Democracy Better: How Can Information and Discourse in Election and Referendum Campaigns in the UK Be Improved?, is a response to widespread dissatisfaction with the quality of political discourse and the information available to voters during recent election and referendum campaigns. The authors, Alan Renwick
New report: Doing Democracy Better Read More »
From Knowable Magazine: As hard as it may be to believe — especially in times of government shutdowns and partisan paralysis — people of different backgrounds and beliefs really can get together to discuss tricky issues and reach a consensus. Productive political discourse isn’t just a utopian fantasy. Recent history has shown that rigorous, thoughtful debate
A deliberate fix for democracy Read More »
From The Los Angeles Times: . . . By contrast, the review process for citizen ballot measures is woefully inadequate and sometimes leads to the passage of initiatives that don’t stand up to legal scrutiny. That’s what happened with Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage, and Proposition 187, which limited public services to immigrants who
From swissinfo.ch: In Switzerland, issues up for vote are typically complex and the interests of different parties are often difficult to decipher. One solution could be the use of a citizens’ jury whereby a few citizens are selected at random to provide a balanced assessment of voting issues for the many. The random selection of
Citizens’ Juries – providing a neutral recommendation on voting issues Read More »
From WGBH News: Across the state, in mailboxes, libraries and lobbies, there are stacks of Massachusetts voter guides. The red booklet from the Secretary of State’s office summarizes Massachusetts’ three ballot questions, with blurbs from the pro and con campaigns. Next election, there may be something new included in those packets. Lawmakers are considering legislation that
Lawmakers Consider Including ‘Citizens’ Statements’ In The State’s Voter Guide Read More »
From Fox & Hounds: Where was the media? The Citizens Initiative Review – the best proven way we have to evaluate ballot initiatives around the world – held a California pilot in Sacramento at the end of last month. And the state political media wasn’t there. What gives? Media folks like to point out the flaws
Smart Initiative Reform Took Place in Sacramento. So Where Was the Media? Read More »
From WWLP 22 News: BOSTON (WWLP) – State lawmakers are working to make voting easier on election day. Ballot questions can be confusing, sometimes making it unclear what your ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote actually means. State lawmakers have a proposal that could change where your information comes from. More than 50 state lawmakers support a bill
Massachusetts: State lawmakers working to make ballot questions more clear to voters Read More »
From Fox & Hounds: Californians have a love-hate relationship with the Initiative process. Recent surveys by PPIC show that two-thirds of voters are satisfied with the initiative process even though a majority think that special interests have too much control and an even larger majority think the wording of initiatives is “often too complicated and
A Manageable Improvement to the State Initiative Process? Read More »
From MassLive: Massachusetts voters who read an independently produced statement about the marijuana legalization ballot question felt better informed about the issue and more confident in their knowledge. But it is likely that few residents were even aware of the so-called “Citizens’ Statement.” Organizers of the Citizens Initiative Review pilot project, which produced the statement,
Ashley Trim of the Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University writes about the challenges of the California initiative system and the unique democratic power of the Citizens Initiative Review. Via People2Power.
Making Direct Democracy Truly Democratic Read More »
