Citizens’ assemblies can provide a constructive response to the current erosive symptoms of representative democracies by injecting the perspec­­tives of ordinary citizens into the political process.

Many democracies around the world have been plagued by various disturbing developments. Some of the most prominent are an increased political and societal polarisation, decreasing trust of citizens in the institutions of representative democracy and democracy as the form of the government itself, as well as decreasing voter turnout. Therefore, to ensure their longevity, democracies must reinvigorate themselves. We believe that the democratisation of democracy and a more comprehensive and frequent involvement of the citizens in the will-formation and decision-making processes by means of citizens’ assemblies could be a part of the solution.

Citizens' Assemblies have the potential

• to strengthen citizens’ relationship with the democratic system and thus their trust in institutions;
• to reinforce the feeling of emancipation and thus work to counter political disenchantment, while generating new output variants and thus a new democratic legitimacy;
• to counteract mounting political and social polarisation by addressing controversial and polarising issues.

Procedural Criteria

But they will not be able to realize this potential unless they meet the criteria of representative inclusion, high-quality deliberative procedures, and systemic efficacy. Citizens’ assemblies must follow a precise design that also should feature a binding, transparent set of targets:

• The procedure for drawing lots must be arranged in such a way that people from all affected social strata take part.
• The internal communication process must be organized and facilitated so that all of the participants can get involved in the process as equals, regardless of their social background or habitus.
• The process must be open to a variety of outcomes; and citizens’ assemblies must be embedded in the democratic political system as autonomous and influential factors.

What Citizens' Assemblies can help to achieve

Citizens’ assemblies that consider these criteria can help narrow the chasm that separates citizens and political decision-makers. They introduce a new logic into representative systems currently dominated by electoral competition. It may enable us to avoid a variety of dysfunctional phenomena: the undue focus on elites, class-specific abstention from politics, the inflated significance of political marketing at the expense of substance, and the infatuation of democratic politics with present rather than future issues. When citizens and the broader public realize that citizens’ assemblies keep the promises they make, trust in democratic institutions will rebound, and participation in the political process will be both widened and deepened.

Find out more in our study below, co-written by Prof. Wolfgang Merkel, Prof. Andreas Schäfer and Dr. Filip Milačić. Available in English and German.