Citizens' Juries, Citizens' Panels and Citizens' Assemblies

Citizens' Assembly

A Citizens' Assembly is a group of people randomly selected to represent the demographics of the local community.

They come together to discuss important public issues and make recommendations. Assembly members learn about the topic from experts, deliberate on different viewpoints, and work towards a consensus. This process ensures that decisions reflect the diverse perspectives and needs of the community. Typically, there are 50 to 200 participants. Citizens’ Assemblies are a democratic method used worldwide to empower citizens and solve problems through deliberation and recommendations.

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Suitable for:

Citizens' Assemblies are used to address complex public issues. They discuss topics like constitutional reform, climate change, social policies, and community planning. They help ensure decisions reflect the community's needs and values through informed deliberation and consensus-building.

Type of engagement:

The consult, involve and collaborate icons in a row

Consult | Involve | Collaborate

How to do it: Yellow lightbulb.

Citizens’ Assemblies usually takes place over several days, either consecutively or over weeks/months. It is important to be clear what the time commitment will be for participants.

Beforehand, decide whether you want to run a Citizens’ Assembly. A successful Citizens’ Assembly depends on the time and resources you have, the political context, and the problem you are trying to solve.

  • Consider the assembly's size, length, and scope, as these affect cost and resource needs. The amount of time it takes to design and deliver an Assembly should last at least 5 months. If resources are limited, consider smaller processes like Citizens' Juries.
  • Political support, ideally from Councillors, is important.
  • Ensure the problem lacks easy answers and choose a clear, focused question. Test it with residents and politicians.
  • Select evidence and witnesses, often with help from an independent advisory group. Include lived experiences and expert insights, providing balanced information.
  • Recruit a diverse group reflecting the wider public in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, etc. Randomly select individuals, send invitations, confirm participation, and provide support for full engagement.

Success on the day depends on good design and preparation leading up to the assembly. Helpful guides with standards, tools, and methods are available under 'further information'. An Assembly includes:

  • A learning stage - participants should think critically about the information they hear and have opportunities to ask questions.
  • A deliberation stage – good facilitation is important
  • A final process of decision-making – this could involve voting, ballots, or reaching a consensus without voting.

After a Citizens' Assembly concludes, the recommendations are presented to policymakers or the commissioning body. These recommendations are compiled into a report that outlines the Assembly's findings and suggested actions. Policymakers review the recommendations and provide a formal response, indicating which suggestions will be implemented and why. The recommendations and the response are shared with the public to ensure transparency. If accepted, the recommendations are integrated into policy decisions and actions, ensuring the Assembly's work has a tangible impact on public policy.

yellow star   Advantages           warning sign   Challenges       
  • Diverse representation - they include people from all parts of the community, making sure different viewpoints are considered in decisions
  • Participants learn from experts and deliberate on issues, leading to well-informed recommendations
  • By involving ordinary citizens, these assemblies can increase public trust in the decision-making process
  • The diverse viewpoints and collaborative nature often lead to creative and effective solutions to complex problems
  • Recommendations, from a representative group of citizens, can carry significant weight with policymakers and the public.
  • Ensuring the assembly is truly representative of the community can be difficult; often only a small percentage of those invited agree to participate, and they might not represent everyone equally
  • Keeping people interested and involved over time can be challenging; you might need to communicate regularly and offer incentives
  • Setting up and running an Assembly takes a lot of time, effort, and money
  • Some topics are very complicated, and participants might need a lot of background information to understand them fully
  • Turning the Assembly's suggestions into real actions can be difficult, especially if there are different opinions
  • There's a risk that certain groups might dominate the discussion or that outside factors could influence the process.

Further information: magnifying glass brown, grey and blue

How to run a citizens’ assembly – a handbook for local authorities is available to download here: The Innovation in Democracy Programme (IiDP) - GOV.UK  

Case study: Open book

Bristol’s Citizens’ Assembly – How do we recover from COVID-19 and create a better future for all in Bristol? (Involve UK, Sortition Foundation and Bristol City Council - external)