Page 13 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

What is this handbook? This handbook is a ‘how-to’ guide for the design and operation of more substantive and considered ways to make trusted democratic decisions. While there are many ways to consult the community, the focus of this Handbook is the Citizens’ Assembly model which uses a Civic Lottery to get a diversity of age, gender, viewpoints and perspectives together in an environment where people get a chance to think, discuss and work toward a common ground position. These people will eventually provide government with a set of recommendations that summarise what they could agree to as a diverse group, and support this with the reasoning and facts which led to their agreeing this position. Where a criminal jury offers a verdict (you’ll often hear the term “Citizens’ Jury” for a deliberative process), the main difference is that in a deliberative process citizens also provide reasoning and evidence for their decision as a way to give greater context to elected decision makers. 11