What are examples of citizen-led governance?

This brief post provides some notable examples from the past decade. If you have other examples you would like to add, please do get in touch and we can add your voice to this post. 

In recent years there has been an increasing use of Citizens’ Assemblies or Citizens’ Juries. These events are examples of citizen-led governance bringing together representative groups of citizens to deliberate on a particular issue and propose a way forward. They usually take place over a number of weekends and this can be spread over six months or more. 

The key feature of a citizens’ assembly (or citizens’ jury) is that it is independently facilitated to ensure citizens are well supported and guided through the process but are not influenced to think one thing or another. Another key feature is that the process is deliberative which means participants are asked  to weigh up all the ideas and evidence on an issue as a whole and to work together to come to a consensus. This is different from a debate because it is not an adversarial approach in which one argument wins and another loses. It is about people working together to find common ground. 

• In 2016, citizens in Ireland deliberated on abortion law. 

• In 2019/20, citizens in Scotland deliberated on the kind of country they wanted to build. 

• In 2021, citizens in Jersey deliberated on assisted dying. 

Each of these citizen gatherings led directly to historic legislation or revised government policy to shape the future for Ireland, Scotland and Jersey. 

We are interested in how these models of citizen-led governance, such as citizens’ assemblies and citizens’ juries, can be adapted to work in longer-term governance scenarios, not just on a simple topic but about the ongoing work of an organisation.