Citizens Assembly: Recent and Upcoming Events

Deliberative Democracy in California

Communications — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/23/2007 - 12:00pm

The conference, which was co-sponsored by the New America Foundation and CommonSense California, explored the emerging field of deliberative democracy, which uses tools such as citizen dialogues, deliberative polling and citizen's assemblies to engage regular citizens in policy issues. Deliberative democracy methods seek to break through partisan gridlock, overcome special interest domination, and rekindle a sense of civic ownership in the conduct of government.

The conference brought together leading policy makers and opinion leaders, provided a space to meet with… more

Reconnecting Californians to Their Government (Sacramento)

Communications — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/26/2006 - 12:00pm

This event is co-sponsored with the California Research Bureau.

Voters want change, despite the failure of last November's reform ballot measures. Political analysts have recommended a number of reforms, from redistricting, revised term limits, and open primaries to alternative election systems and the public financing of campaigns. But how do we change a system when powerful interests defend the status quo?

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens Assembly, its strength lies in restoring power to… more

Reconnecting Californians to Their Government (San Francisco)

Communications — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/25/2006 - 12:00pm

This event is co-sponsored with The Commonwealth Club of California.

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens' Assembly, its strength lies in restoring… more

Reconnecting Californians to Their Government (Los Angeles)

Communications — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/24/2006 - 12:00pm

This event is co-sponsored with University of Southern California Bedrosian Center on Governance

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens Assembly, its strength lies… more

Does British Columbia's Citizens Assembly Offer a Magic Key to Realizing Your Own Democratic Reform Agenda?

Communications — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/16/2005 - 12:00pm

Elected officials have an intrinsic conflict of interest when considering reforms that might reduce their chances of re-election. One proposed solution to this dilemma is to take democratic reform out of the hands of elected officials and put it in the hands of a randomly selected body of citizens. The premier of British Columbia recently implemented such a reform. With the legislature's blessing, he created a "Citizens Assembly" of 160 randomly selected individuals ("The Citizens Assembly on… more

Can the U.S. Take Lessons from a Canadian Experiment in Democracy?

Communications — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/07/2005 - 12:00pm

Last month a majority of British Columbia voters approved replacing winner-take-all elections with a proportional voting system. This policy outcome was not unprecedented, but the method used to select it was. The final recommendations were derived from the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, a group of 160 randomly selected individuals from British Columbia. This group met for one year and produced the electoral reform package that was placed on the ballot.

In the last chapter of his new book,… more