A new experience of deliberation via assemblies chosen by lottery starts up
Understanding the new challenges that arise globally and daily in relation to participation and democracy, the Scottish government is committed to the creation of an assembly formed by ordinary citizens whom, in certain way, will allow a successful communication for the democratic development.
The conformation of this citizen assembly, will be completely random and in a pluralistic way, to assure the effectiveness of it, to avoid political biases that could affect the practice of the assembly. 120 members will be part of this project, who will be paid with an amount of 200 euros per weekend, in gratitude for the development of their functions.
It is important to note that this assembly for citizen participation will have meetings held over 6 weekends that will take place between the fall and summer of 2020. Basically, the topics to be discussed within this organization will be related within three areas: the first one, what kind of country should Scotland be? the second one, how can Scotland better overcome the challenges, including those arising from the Brexit? And the last one, what additional work is required so that people can make informed decisions about the future of Scotland?
This is the first attempt to form a citizens' assembly in this territory also it has been mentioned that they have bases based on previous initiatives such as those carried out in different parts of the world, specifically Ireland, Poland and Belgium, to name a few.
Sources:
https://www.gov.scot/news/citizens-assembly-of-scotland/
Additional related news:
Mini-publics: examples and resources:
http://whatworksscotland.ac.uk/topics/mini-publics/
Belgium promotes new democratic mechanisms:
https://oidp.net/en/content.php?id=1561
The Irish abortion referendum: How to Citizens' Assembly helped to break years of political deadlock:
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