RESEARCH & DOCUMENTATION
FIDE curates the best available research and acts as a documentation centre for all aspects of deliberative democratic processes and civic lotteries. It also performs its own research and publishes research papers, policy briefs and other publications to inform elected representatives, government officials and the public on the results. To this end, it can cooperate with academic institutions or other organizations for specific research projects.
ORGANISING A DEMOCRATIC LOTTERY
All citizens in a democracy have an equal right to have a voice in their society by participating in its decision-making table. A democratic lottery (or sortition) is the method used in deliberative processes to randomly select a group of demographically representative citizens that will constitute the members of an assembly for taking public decisions.
We have delved into the intricacies of the method in this research paper. The document presents a detailed overview of the two-stage process, discussing the advantages of the methodology and the criteria that must be taken into consideration by policymakers and organizers when implementing a Democratic Lottery.
INCLUDING THE UNDERREPRESENTED
Deliberative democracy is based on the premise that all voices matter and that we can equally participate in decision-making. However, structural inequalities might prevent certain groups from being recruited for deliberation, skewing the process towards the socially privileged. Those structural inequalities are also present in the deliberation room, which can lead to unconscious (or conscious) biases that hinder certain voices while amplifying others. This causes particular perspectives to influence decision-making unequally.
This paper presents different methods and strategies applied in previous processes to increase the inclusion of underrepresented groups. We distinguish strategies for the two critical phases of the deliberative process: recruitment and deliberation.
POLICY NOTES
HOW TO LINK CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICY-MAKING?
An essential step in any deliberative process is the definition, from the start, of how the commissioning authority will treat the recommendations submitted by citizens. Such definition is a crucial action within deliberative democracy, as it acknowledges that the recommendations members of the assembly will submit will receive a response. Furthermore, it informs the wider public on the role this assembly will have in developing the policy that will affect them.
In this policy note, FIDE delves into ‘how to link recommendations of citizens assemblies to policymaking?’ giving an overview of what to consider from the policy-makers point of view.
THE ‘ASSEMBLÉE CITOYENNE DE PARIS’ AS AN INSTITUTIONALIZED MODEL OF DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY AT THE CITY LEVEL.
At the core of deliberation rests an important principle, the capacity to make the voices of citizens heard. Across the world, more and more political authorities are willing to bring out our collective intelligence to strengthen our democracies. The institutionalisation of deliberative processes is a firm step towards recovering the much-needed trust in the system and finding common ground for the issues that affect all of us.
Paris has become a pioneer in democratic innovation being the first major European city to institutionalise a permanent citizens' council. The city adopted an extended version of the so-called “Ostbelgien Model” of citizen participation following FIDE’s expertise and in this policy note, we delve into the intricacies of the Assemblée Citoyenne.
OUR RECOMMENDED LIST OF RESOURCES ON DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY
Key references to get you started!