Citizens’ Assembly

In citizens' assemblies, juries and panels, the government a civil society organization or another institution convenes a randomly selected and representative sample of the community to learn about a policy issue and identify policy solutions. The jury or assembly meets for weeks or months, learns from experts, and then produces a decision, statement or recommendation. These recommendations are often then put to a legislative vote or public vote via referendum, and they have been used to address policies such as abortion, climate change and housing.

Plan your citizens' assembly or jury

Citizens' Assembly Model

Graphic showing 4 steps: select participants, deliberate, present recommendations and take action

Citizens’ Assembly in Action

Gdansk, Poland

This article highlights the experience of citizens' assemblies in Gdansk, Poland.

Fortaleza, Brazil

A report on the Citizens' Council of Fortaleza, which had the objective to propose solutions to the problem of urban waste in the city.

Brussels, Belgium

A video about the "Make Your Brussels - Mobility" citizens' panel.

Camden, United Kingdom

This video documents Camden, England's journey to tackle the climate crisis alongside residents through a local citizens' assembly.

This journey has been invaluable because it allowed us, the citizens, to expand our knowledge on this paramount issue and provide the Parliament with guidance on what we believe needs to be done to tackle it. Moreover, I learned a lot from the other Assembly members, as we all come from different backgrounds and have different life experiences.

- Alessia, assembly member of Scotland’s Climate Assembly

What amazed me [...] was that [the citizens’ jury] immediately knew whether what was being told to them was nonsense or propaganda or whether it had some meaning. There is [...] this wisdom available amongst them to judge what is useful, what is genuine and what is not.

- Member of the Prajateerpu oversight panel, India

Being a member of the global assembly helped me to extend my knowledge about climate change, to become a person who cares more about nature, a person who thinks profoundly about the impacts of climate change crises on our lives, our future and our planet.

- Mary Nassr, assembly member of the Global Assembly from Syria

Featured Resources

Some Assembly Required: Citizens’ assemblies are increasingly popular

Accessible article in The Economist explaining how citizen assemblies work, why they are becoming more popular, and their challenges.

The Wisdom of Small Crowds: The Case for Using Citizens’ Juries to Shape Policy

This opinion piece argues that citizens' juries can result in better policymaking and greater trust between people and government.

Power to the People: Nations are turning to citizen assemblies to weigh up climate policies

This article details the wave of climate assemblies in Europe and considers their potential to push governments to act on climate change.

Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions

A paper that presents information about deliberative bodies and citizen assemblies, and how to embed them to democratic institutions.

More Resources

Sample Playbook

Review key design questions you will need to answer to plan a citizens’ assembly or jury, and sample answers to these questions. The playbook will walk you through the most important questions to answer when designing a process. Each step of the way, we will share recommended options and information to help you decide. At the end, you will have a plan for your process.