Here are answers to frequently asked questions about citizens’ assemblies.
1. General citizens’ assembly questions
- What is a citizens’ assembly?
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A form of democracy where a group of people is selected like a jury and then sorted to create a ‘mini UK’. It will be made up of people just like you and me. They will learn about the climate and ecological crisis from experts, hear from the people most affected, and about possible solutions, discuss and talk respectfully in small groups and agree on the best way forward for everyone.
This very ancient way of doing democracy is now increasingly happening around the world. Citizens’ assemblies are being used to solve tricky issues, not just climate. You can find examples on our citizens’ assembly page.
- Why do we need one? What’s wrong with our existing politics?
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The government is unable to make the difficult and far reaching decisions needed. See the section “Electoral politics – the problem in a nutshell” on our citizens’ assembly page.
- Does it replace the government?
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No – it will help the government. The government will ask the citizens’ assembly to recommend how to tackle the climate and ecological emergency, reach net zero and stop biodiversity loss.
- Who decides to have it?
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The government must make the decision to hold the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice, as only they have power to implement the wide ranging changes needed.
- Who takes part?
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Citizens’ assembly members are randomly chosen, like a jury. Thousands of invitations are sent out explaining what it is about, and those people who are willing to take part are then sorted into categories that reflect the population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, where they live etc. These names are then put back into the hat, and another random selection takes place to ensure the final selection represents a “mini UK”.
- How long does it last?
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If the government commissioned a citizens’ assembly today, we could already have recommendations ready to implement within nine months.
- What does it cost and who pays for it?
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It will be paid for by the government through our taxes and the cost will depend on how the citizens’ assembly is run. However, as an example, the Citizen’s Convention on Climate in France cost €5.6 million. Scotland’s Climate Assembly was budgeted for £1.4 million. We know ignoring the crisis is going to cost us much more. To give some perspective, running the House of Lords for a year in 2019 cost £117.4 million.
- Who runs it?
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A number of independent organisations specialise in running deliberative democracy processes – see “Who runs it and makes sure it’s fair?” in section 2 for more detail.
The citizens’ assembly must be seen to be independent of government, XR or any other outside interference, e.g. lobbyists.
- How is the question decided?
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The question is very important. The question must include key elements such as biodiversity loss and global and social justice. The assembly members would ideally be involved in formulating the question. This could be their first task as a citizens’ assembly. Setting a date for net zero in the question is problematic, because it limits the evidence presented to the assembly members. A question should therefore be open enough to allow for a wide range of information to be presented to the citizens’ assembly.
- How can we be sure the government will implement the recommendations?
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Public opinion is a driving force behind government decisions, so before the CA starts, it is essential that the organising body educates the general public about citizens’ assemblies, so everyone knows the CA is happening, what is being decided on, and that government is expected to act on the recommendations.
- Will it be legally binding?
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No – Extinction Rebellion are not demanding a legally binding CA. This is because it is very difficult to achieve in law, and in any case parliament can always undo previous decisions. A demand that a CA’s recommendations be legally binding not only delays action but is no guarantee that commitments won’t be rescinded in the future. Plenty of media attention and publicity are much more important, as this will ensure everyone knows the CA is happening and why it is so important. Public pressure is the most effective way to ensure the government implements the recommendations.
- Is it a perfect system?
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No system is perfect. But we believe a citizens’ assembly is the best way for us to decide together how to address the climate and ecological crisis.
- What about local citizens assemblies?
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Extinction Rebellion’s demand is for a UK-wide Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice reporting to the UK Government.
Meanwhile, there’s been an explosion of interest in local citizens’ assemblies. Ordinary people from different walks of life are coming together to discuss how their communities are run. And councils across the UK are embracing this idea. This is great news.
However, for a citizens’ assembly to meet the minimum standards it needs money and time – something which local councils often do not have. So we are encouraging rebels and councils to look at other participatory processes to engage and empower people.
It is important not to end up with poorly run citizens’ assemblies, otherwise the legitimacy of the process will disappear. Bear in mind the words of Tim Hughes, former director at Involve:
“Amongst all of the enthusiasm surrounding citizens’ assemblies at the moment, the term is starting to lose some of its meaning. We’ve been guilty of this ourselves, at times compromising the precision of definitions with the hope of demonstrating the power of the model and building towards more robust processes. While it’s important that standards do not curb innovation, it’s critical that methods are not watered down beyond recognition.”
The deliberative democracy organisation Involve provides some suggested processes for local level deliberations, which include:
Citizens’ advisory groups – Citizens’ juries – Citizens’ panels – Citizens’ summits – Future workshops – Local issues forums
Also visit the XR Future Democracy Hub, which was set up as a collaborative forum for learning about different levels of citizen participation, deliberative processes, and sharing knowledge and practices.
Further resources for people involved with local democratic projects:
- Framing of the question Information to help with framing the question presented to the assembly (PDF).
- Standards Standards for citizens’ assemblies (PDF).
- How to run a citizens’ assembly A comprehensive handbook on running a citizens’ assembly for local authorities by Involve.
Publicising your deliberative process Reporting on and telling the story of a citizens’ assembly by the RSA and the Democratic Society.
2. Organisation of the citizens’ assembly
- Who runs it and makes sure it’s fair?
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Oversight Panel Monitors the whole process to ensure that the citizens’ assembly is balanced and robust and it complies with basic standards. It can be made up of citizens, representatives of political parties, representatives of those whose rights are under threat (rights holders), experts in citizens’ assemblies and other stakeholders such as NGOs and businesses. Minutes of their meetings are available online.
Advisory Board Develops key criteria for the selection of the expert/stakeholder panel. It also ensures, with the help of the oversight panel, that the background material and evidence presented to a citizens’ assembly is balanced. The advisory board may be composed in different ways, for example, in the Irish Citizens’ Assembly it comprised academics and practitioners across a number of specific fields of interest.
Coordinating Group An independent professional organisation or a group of organisations which bids to run the citizens’ assembly, selected through an open and competitive tendering process. Safeguards must be in place to ensure that stakeholders, such as the government, lobby groups and XR, can’t influence this process to appoint coordinators who will act in their interests.
In contact with the advisory board, the coordinating group develops a clear, comprehensive policy framework in order to structure the evidence, deliberation and decisions. They design the phases of the citizens’ assembly (see below). In the case of a citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice, they might develop feasible alternative policies within specific sectors.
They conduct the process of random selection to make sure the assembly members represent a “mini UK”.
They invite experts and stakeholders, and appoint the team of professional facilitators.
The coordinating group is also responsible for the logistics of the process. The citizens’ assembly will take place over several weekends in a hotel conference room where members are given accommodation and meals.
The coordinating group should produce and publish a report explaining the methodology used in the citizens’ assembly to ensure procedural transparency.
Expert/Stakeholder Panel This mixture of experts, stakeholders and rights-holders are invited by the coordinating group to brief the assembly members on their perspective. With guidance from the advisory board they create accessible and balanced background materials to be presented to the assembly members. Contributions from experts, stakeholders and rights-holders can be made in the form of a talk in person, a recording, a written briefing, or live-streamed. Assembly members can ask them questions or request particular groups or individuals to speak.
Facilitators An experienced facilitator sits with groups of assembly members to ensure that the discussion at each table (called deliberation) is not dominated by a vocal few and that everyone has a chance to speak and the environment is respectful. Facilitators are impartial and not allowed to voice their own opinion.
- What are the phases of a citizens’ assembly?
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A. Government commitment It must be clear that the government is committed to the proper process of the assembly, and to implementing its recommendations. The government must not be using the citizens assembly as a way to justify its own policies, or as a box ticking exercise. The government must agree how, and when, they will respond to the assembly’s recommendations.
B. Publicity and public understanding XR’s first demand is that the government must tell the truth about the emergency. The climate and ecological emergency and the forthcoming Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice must be publicised across all media – to raise awareness of the problem and why the citizens assembly is needed, and to encourage people to respond to an invitation to take part if they receive one. The publicity will continue throughout the assembly process.
C. The question To allow citizens’ assembly members to make real decisions, a viable question must be formed. This must be broad enough in scope to encompass the subject and permit them to make decisions for the common good. For example, the question: “Recommendations for the UK to reach net zero carbon” – is not good enough – because there is no urgency. The question must include key elements such as biodiversity loss and global and social justice. The specific policy areas to be addressed by the citizens’ assembly may need clarifying, for example, certain sectors of the economy could be given priority due to their contribution to the climate crisis and the breakdown of ecological life-support systems. Decisions on which policy areas the citizens’ assembly is to consider will affect its duration and whether there need to be multiple citizens’ assemblies to address these different areas.
D. Learning phase Having arrived at the citizens’ assembly, members will learn about critical thinking and bias. They will then hear balanced and comprehensive information on the climate and ecological emergency, including key terms and background science such as the rate of change and implications of the climate crisis). Then they’ll be presented with a range of opinions and evidence on policy options. Assembly members can invite and ‘cross-examine’ additional experts and are able to ask questions. To ensure transparency, all presentations during the learning phase should be live streamed and recorded, and all materials should be made available online.
E. Consultation phase In addition to the experts and stakeholders invited to give evidence, any group or individual in society can make a written submission to the citizens’ assembly. This evidence will be summarised and presented to the assembly members. Members will also have the right to request to hear in person from any of these groups. A wide range of perspectives will be submitted, including contrary perspectives. The submissions and summary will be published online.
F. Deliberation phase Assembly members reflect on and discuss the evidence and opinions they have heard. Facilitators make sure that assembly members actively listen to each other and critically assess the different options. There is a combination of plenary sessions and facilitated small groups to maximise opportunities for everyone to speak and be heard.
G. Decisions Assembly members are taken through a step-by-step process to draft a report on their recommendations. This may include discussion (deliberation) in private, without facilitators present, similar to a legal jury deciding its verdict. Their report will include key recommendations and the degree of support for each, along with more nuanced descriptions of the points raised during the assembly.
- Where is it held?
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The sessions normally take place over a number of weekends in hotel conference rooms where members are given accommodation and meals. Members sit round tables with space at the front where experts and others speak. There may be an area for visitors and/or press, but they can only witness the speakers, and not hear or take part in the facilitated conversations of assembly members.
3. Before the assembly – selection of participants
- Who is in charge of the selection process?
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The independent coordinating group is in charge of the process.
- Who is eligible?
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All people over the age of 16 who live in the UK.
- How are assembly members selected?
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Citizens’ assembly members are randomly chosen, like a jury. Thousands of invitations are sent out explaining what it is about, and those people who are willing to take part are then sorted into categories that reflect the population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, where they live etc. These names are then put back into the hat, and another random selection takes place to ensure the final selection represents a “mini UK”.
- Do you have to be a UK citizen to take part?
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No. We expect all people who live in the UK will be eligible whether they are a UK citizen or not.
- How do we make it inclusive?
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It’s important that no community is excluded, for example the organisers should find a way to include people with no postal address.
- If I am selected do I have to take part?
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No. You might receive an invitation letter because the selection process is random like a jury. However, you can choose not to participate.
- What about people who work weekends? Do assembly members get paid?
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Assembly members can be paid a stipend to help cover loss of earnings. This ensures that people who work weekends, shifts, nights, are not excluded to take part in the assembly.
- Can I be a CA member?
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Because the initial invitation letters are sent to random people, it is unlikely you would be selected, but you never know!
- Can CA members be influenced by lobbyists? How is the assembly kept free from bribery and corruption?
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Most participants come with an open mind to seek solutions for the common good – they are not there for their (political) career. Each member has an equal voice, so the power of individual voices determining outcome is minimal.
Presentations are public and interests of presenters are declared.
Reasons for supporting decisions made will also be documented and will be open to the public.
CA members are anonymous during the process and can choose whether to remain anonymous at the end of the assembly, meaning companies or individuals wishing to influence the assembly do not know who the assembly members are.
4. During the assembly
- How do CA members learn about the Climate and Ecological Emergency?
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The first few weekend sessions of the citizens’ assembly are devoted to learning about the climate and ecological crisis because participants need a good enough understanding of the issues to inform deliberation and recommendations.
Participants hear presentations and get written materials from a range of speakers and topics including:
- experts – these would include climate and environmental scientists, economists, historians, and engineers
- stakeholders – like energy companies, activists, environmental organisations
- rights holders – such as farmers, company workers, and people who are affected – this would include indigenous peoples living on the front lines of the climate and ecological emergency.
- How are groups facilitated?
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Professional facilitators support the assembly process to ensure all voices are heard and no one dominates discussions. When people of diverse opinions meet face to face in these environments, they tend to temper extreme opinions and are willing to find common ground. Translators and sign language interpreters will also be available.
- Some people are more dominant than others due to cultural/educational background, confidence and personality. How is this addressed?
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Professional facilitators support the process to ensure all voices are heard and no one dominates discussions. When people of diverse opinions meet face to face in these environments, they tend to temper extreme opinions and are willing to find common ground.
- What if table ‘facilitators’ are biased?
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Facilitators don’t take part in discussions so opportunity to exercise bias is limited. Their role is purely to ensure the deliberation runs smoothly.
- How are the recommendations agreed?
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After the deliberation phase, each group agrees to a set of recommendations about that subject. The recommendations are sorted and put to whole group votes, and the most popular are the ones which go forward into the report.
The assembly then produces a report which includes reasons for backing the recommendations, the consensus for each recommendation, as well as a summary of different views. The report will be published according to the timescale agreed at the beginning of the process.
5. After the assembly
- How will the government decide which recommendations to take forward?
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It must be agreed at the outset what happens to the recommendations. For example, in the proposed cross party Climate and Ecology Bill (CE Bill), recommendations agreed upon by 80% of the CA will be included in the strategy put forward by parliament. Parliament will debate any recommendations with less than 80% of votes, and provide a report explaining its reasons for not taking forward any of those.
- What if the government doesn’t implement the recommendations of the assembly?
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Public opinion is a driving force behind government decisions, so before the CA it is essential that the organising body educates the general public about citizens’ assemblies, so everyone knows the CA is happening, what is being decided on, and that government is expected to act on the recommendations. It is also vital that there is wide publicity about the CA taking place, so that everyone in the country knows that there are people like them making major decisions that are going to affect everyone. It would need to be in the news, in the papers, everywhere. Without publicity, the government can easily get away with not implementing the recommendations.
- What if I don’t agree with the recommendations?
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We have to trust our fellow citizens. The Third Demand is a CA free from interference from government, corporations or anyone else, including XR. In an open and fair CA, members have support to learn about the Climate and Ecological Emergency, so they will reach an informed judgement. From previous CAs on numerous issues we have seen that citizens are inclined to follow the evidence, e.g. climate science, and make ambitious recommendations in the best interest of all.
- Who will check that recommendations are followed up?
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If there is wide public understanding of the citizens assembly, and therefore the urgency of the crisis, we would expect that public pressure would ensure the government carries out its commitments. It was interesting that after the French Climate Convention some members formed an association called the “150” to follow up and monitor the actions recommended to the government. We expect the report from the CA will have recommendations on how to follow up and monitor progress.
6. Politics and principles of CAs
- We already have politicians that have been elected, why do we need citizens’ assemblies as well?
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The reality is that the current political system hasn’t been able to tackle the climate emergency to the extent that we need. CAs are a way to help politicians make the decisions that are needed. It’s about having a grown up conversation in which people are informed, they deliberate, they listen and learn, and they come up with recommendations that are solution oriented.
- Isn’t this just mob rule?
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It’s not a mob, it’s a group of everyday people like you and me selected to represent a “mini UK”. It’s not rule – it’s a set of recommendations. Mob rule is a ‘knee jerk reaction’, uniformed and not calmly considered, and often a result of frustration. CAs are about bringing disparate and wide-ranging views to the table in a collaborative process to find common ground. Citizens assemblies are carefully curated, they have well established protocols in how they are run.
- The average person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, they shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions
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Many of our current cabinet are looking after portfolios that they have zero experience in. It’s unlikely they would get jobs in the fields that they are tasked with overseeing … so in this light it’s not fair to say the average person knows nothing … A key aspect of CAs is ensuring that participants have adequate knowledge and understanding of the issues to be discussed. That is why learning is placed at the forefront of proceedings. As John Long, who was a member of the Irish CA said, “we’re probably the best informed amateurs in the country on this topic at the moment.”
- These assemblies will be dominated by retired busy-bodies and loud people
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The selection process ensures this doesn’t happen, and the assembly membership is a diverse representation of our society, representing the population as a whole, and there are very careful structures and processes to ensure that one segment of the population doesn’t dominate.
- The recommendations will all end up being written by politically motivated interest groups. What about people like me? What about the silent majority?
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The selection process ensures that people from different walks of life are present, and the facilitation ensures that those people are given the opportunity to speak. The recommendations are made by the group for the good of all society – and you are part of that society. The citizens’ assembly process gives the reasoning and justification behind recommendations made, so we can all understand. Sometimes there will be recommendations from the citizens’ assembly that you don’t agree with , but remember it’s a cross-section of society making decisions in the best interests of all.
- Politicians will just ignore the results, like they always do. It’ll be a waste of time and money.
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You know what, we share your concern. Politicians have a very poor track record in this regard. In a way, it shows why we need a citizen’s assembly because politicians need help in making the right decisions. We also need a commitment from them that they will respond to the recommendations, and that they will take seriously any recommendations that have assembly support. It’s our role as citizens to continue holding them to account.
- What if the citizens’ assembly comes back with something really stupid? Like Boaty McBoatface? Are you going to support that recommendation?
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One of the main reasons XR is in favour of CAs is because they are a highly effective way to engage people in a process where the collective intelligence of the group comes to the forefront. The research on CAs and deliberative processes in general confirms this. Therefore we have confidence and trust in our fellow citizens’ ability to come up with recommendations that are fair and just, and developed with the best interest of the common good at their core.
- Is XR trying to change the government? I thought they were interested in climate change?
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Our concern is climate change and the ecological emergency, the impact it is having on the planet and the world’s population. Our demands do not include nor require a change of government. What XR wants is for the people to be involved in making the decisions that are going to have major effects on their own lives. The way to do this, we believe, is through a UK-wide Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice.
- Our current political system isn’t perfect but it does get things done. We shouldn’t interfere – better the devil you know…
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Our current political system is not working – if it was we would be seeing real action on the CEE, because scientists tell us that we need to take action, and quickly. We’re not suggesting replacing the current system but we are suggesting improving it. Modernising it. All we’re asking for is a change here that will allow us to find the solutions we need.
- What sort of things are recommended by these assemblies?
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Previous CAs on climate like the ones in France, the UK, and Scotland have come up with some concrete recommendations, such as:
France
- Develop alternative modes of transport other than the private car
- To adopt an ecocide law
Climate Assembly UK
- Call for government leadership – working across political parties
- Independent, neutral monitoring and reporting on net zero progress
- Much more transparency in the relationship between big energy companies and the government, due to concerns over lobbying and influence.
- Get to net zero without pushing our emissions elsewhere in the world.
- A robust media strategy on the outcomes of the assembly.
Scotland’s Climate Assembly
- Tax high carbon resources
- Retrofit all existing homes by 2030
- Decarbonise heating by 2030
- Public transport cheaper or free
- What you’re proposing is anti-democratic, these people aren’t elected?
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We’re not familiar with this form of democracy because most democratic systems use a form of electoral politics, where someone is elected to represent us. Most of us didn’t even vote for our MPs, so it’s a mistake to equate ‘elections’ as ‘democracy’. Democracy should be much more than elections and should include engagement of the people, not just giving us a vote every 5 years at the ballot box.
- After the CA is over, who checks that something actually happens with the recommendations?
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An oversight body composed of members of the CA should be created to monitor the government’s progress. This oversight body should be decided on during the CA. We would also expect the media and the people to make the government accountable for implementing the recommendations.
- The citizens in the CA aren’t elected so they are not accountable, so is it morally right that they should be allowed to make these decisions?
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The citizens are making recommendations in an effort to solve a crisis. Is it morally right to let things go on as they are? Politicians are clearly not being held accountable in our current system either. Given the behaviour and track record of many politicians when they enter office, it is clear that the power of the ballot box is far more limited than people believe. If accountability were truly present in our public life, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Election promises are consistently broken and changed.