id: citizens-climate-assembly
title: Citizens' Climate Assembly
description: >-
  A deliberative democracy method where a representative sample of a
  population, chosen by sortition (random selection), is convened to learn
  about and recommend policy on a complex issue. Used increasingly for
  climate policy, following models from Ireland, France, and the UK.
source: newDemocracy Foundation / OECD Innovative Citizen Participation
source_url: https://www.oecd.org/governance/innovative-citizen-participation/
tags: [sortition, citizens-assembly, climate, deliberative-democracy]
forked_from: null
image: null
steps:
  - headline: Select by sortition
    description: >-
      A representative sample of the population — typically 60 to 150 people
      — is selected by random stratified sortition to reflect the
      demographics of the whole.
  - headline: Learn from evidence
    description: >-
      The assembly hears from experts, stakeholders, and community members
      across the spectrum of views, with time to question and deliberate.
  - headline: Deliberate in small groups
    description: >-
      Members deliberate in facilitated small groups, working through the
      trade-offs and values at stake, with facilitators ensuring all speak.
  - headline: Draft recommendations
    description: >-
      The assembly drafts recommendations, voting on each. Recommendations
      reflect the considered view of the body, including dissent.
  - headline: Report to the polity
    description: >-
      The assembly's recommendations are presented to the sponsoring
      government or public, with a commitment to respond.
outcome: >-
  A representative body of ordinary citizens produces considered
  recommendations on a complex issue, informed by evidence and deliberation.
practice: >-
  The sortition is the legitimacy — it is not a self-selected panel.
  Quality of facilitation determines whether all voices actually shape the
  outcome. Government must commit to respond, or the assembly erodes trust.