Citizens’ Assemblies: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (Again)

Citizens’ assemblies can help us resolve some big problems we have with representative democracy. They bring authentic and representative citizen perspectives to bear in policymaking and, at the same time, refine public opinion through informed deliberation and judgment. But for citizens’ assemblies to take root in the US, advocates, funders, and–not least–elected officials must see them as a complement rather than a replacement for representative democracy.