Ireland is increasing its use of Citizens’ Assemblies

 

The Citizen’s Assembly in Ireland and the Citizens’ Council in Ostbelgien are prominent examples of an ongoing “deliberative turn” in democratic countries. Citizens’ Assemblies (CAs) convene a relatively large group of randomly select individuals to discuss a particular political question and provide a set of recommendations. The participants must usually be representative of the wider population. It aims to to give individual citizens decision-making power and suggest solutions on difficult political problems, such as climate action and abortion rights. 

“A CA must have clarity of process, a controlled environment, a clear input and promised outputs” (Foley, 2022).

Ireland is arguably the world leader in the use of CAs. In 2022, the country will for the first time run two separate CAs concurrently. One CA will discuss Biodiversity, analyzing biodiversity policy and other policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic development, climate action, sustainable development, agriculture and tourism. It addresses the growing biodiversity crisis, which has been caused by habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change. There is a rapid acceleration of animals and plants becoming extinct. CAs are vital in transforming national policies in a rapid way. The prime minister of Ireland Micheál Martin said he would “bring to Cabinet shortly proposals for a citizens’ assembly on biodiversity”: 

“I think it’s absolutely critical that we move on this and move with speed and conviction, and I intend to do that.”

The other CA will consider the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin. The assemblies will be asked to report back within nine months, providing an opportunity to experiment with logistical challenges and managing capacity. When this work is over, there will be two new CAs on Drug Use and the Future of Education. The two assemblies meet for the first time in April and will report back with their findings within 9 months or sooner.

Irish politicians are acknowledging the benefits of utilizing citizen expertise on highly contested political issues: 

“If I was a Minister with responsibility for the Drug Strategy I would be front and centre of the call and advocacy for a Citizen’s Assembly on Drugs. Imagine being a minister at such an exciting time. The expertise you would have access to and the solutions that could arise” Senator Lynn Ruane. 

Today, CAs are increasingly being regarded as the best way to revitalize western democracies. The background is the decline in formal democratic participation expressed in falling political party numbers, low turnout in elections and political disaffection. There is also a measurable decline of public trust in politicians (Foley, 2022). However, there are still many challenges. One of the most important is that the many recommendations from previous assemblies have been ignored or rejected by the Irish Government.