I Wrote a Law! And I Need Your Help!

It's a draft of a model local ordinance to empower people to call, and pay for, Citizens Assemblies in their communities. Your edits and suggestions are welcome.

I've drafted a model local law that would give everyday people the power to call a citizens assembly, and the tools to pay for it, in their local communities. It's published here to get your ideas, comments, and suggestions. Please feel free to comment here directly, or email me privately at joe@democracylocal.com

Local Ordinance: The Power to Assemble and Decide Act

WHEREAS democracy is best understood as everyday people governing themselves

WHEREAS democracy require people to do more than vote in elections. They must participate in governance between elections

WHEREAS effective government needs the direct participation of people in policy-making, government decision making and acts of government beyond elections.

WHEREAS elected bodies work best when they can learn from, deliberate with, and collaborate with, everyday people in their work

WHEREAS the public has the right to input, consequential voice, and self-government at all times, not just during elections.

WHEREAS Citizens Assemblies, based on sortition, are the most effective engagement platform for bringing together representative bodies of people to learn, deliberate and co-create government policy proposals

WHEREAS both the people and their representatives should be able to launch Citizens assemblies.

WHEREAS local jurisdictions including Gdansk, Poland; Constance, Germany, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, and the Parliament of the City of Brussels have drafted laws giving the people the power to petition for a Citizens’ Assembly

This Model Ordinance is hereby created to expand democracy, deliberation, and more efficient governance at local and sub-national levels.

Provision 1: What Are Citizens Assemblies?

Section a. A Citizens Assembly is a mini-public of residents, representative of our jurisdiction. Assemblies will have at least 40 members. There is no limit on the maximum number of members.

Section b. Citizens Assemblies uses sortition and lotteries, rather than self-selection, to ensure that they are representative of the people of their jurisdiction.

Section c. Citizens Assemblies should be representative of the jurisdiction along lines of gender, local geography, class, education, and other factors, including race and religion.

Section d. Citizens Assemblies come together to learn, deliberate and draft proposals, for at least 4 working days. There is no maximum limit on the time of an assembly.

Section e. Citizens Assemblies are not just democracy. They also are a technocratic function. Citizens Assemblies require a secretariat, of skilled and independent people, whose only mission is the organization and support of each assembly.

Section f. Citizens Assemblies must be conducted in public spaces, with members of the public allowed to witness and hear plenary proceedings.

Section g. Public access to breakout sessions may be limited for reasons of room size and to create space for confidential conversations involving members, but all discussions of the assembly’s topic question must be recorded and reported out during plenaries. The identities of citizen assembly members may be kept secret to encourage participation, and to discourage external and undue pressure from interest groups.

Section h. Citizens Assemblies work best when participants gather in person. To bridge distance and reduce costs, citizens assemblies may be hybrid, with no more than half of the deliberation time taking place online.

Provision 2. Calling Citizens Assemblies

Section A. Citizens Assemblies may be called by multiple governmental institutions in our jurisdiction. They may be called on any topic.

Section B. Citizens Assemblies may be called by a majority vote of the city council or parliament.

Section C. Any citizen or bona fide organization may formally request a citizens’ assembly by collecting 1000 signatures, or 0.5 percent of residents, whichever number is smaller. The request must provide a specific remit and question for the assembly to answer. The remit may not exceed 1,500 words.

Sub-sec 1. Signatures are submitted to the city clerk and administrator and must be reviewed immediately. The clerk or administrator has no more than 10 days to check and confirm the validity of the signatures

Sub-sec 2 If 1000 signatures, or a number of signatures equal to 0.5 percent of residents, are found to be valid, the request is forwarded to the city council or parliament. The elected body must consider the application for the assembly, vote it up or down, and explain its decision to the public.

Section D. Any citizen or registered organization may automatically trigger a Citizens’ Assembly by collecting 5,000 signatures, or 1 percent of residents, whichever number is smaller. The request must provide a specific remit and question for the assembly to answer.

Sub-sec 1. Signatures are submitted to the city clerk and administrator and must be reviewed immediately. The clerk or administrator has no more than 20 days to check and confirm the validity of the signatures

Sub-sec. 2 If the signatures are found to be valid, the city council may not block the assembly. It must name a date for the assembly within 7 days. The assembly must begin within 4 months of the verification of signatures, and conclude within 8 months of the verification.

Sub-sec. 3. If the signatures are found to be valid and sufficient in number to

trigger an assembly, the city council must appropriate such funds, which may be taken from Democracy Action Funds (see Provision 4) and given to a permanent, indepdenent secretariat established to organize and support Citizens Assemblies.

Provision 3: Numbers of Assemblies

Section A. As many as two assemblies per calendar year may be called by the elected city council or city parliament, by majority vote

Section B. As many as three assemblies per calendar year may be triggered by petitions for an assembly submitted by the people

Provision 4. Paying for Assemblies.

Section A. This ordinance establishes a Democracy Action Fund to help pay for Citizens Assemblies and related costs.

Section B. At each local election, the city government will deposit an amount equal to 5 percent of all its spending on the election into the Democracy Action Fund

Section C. Political parties and other registered political committees, with 60 days of each local election, deposit 5 percent of their spending on that election into the Democracy Action Fund.

Section D. No citizens assembly may draw down more than half of money in the Democracy Action Fund for its assembly

Section E. A board of five citizens, drawn by lot different neighborhoods in the city, will oversee the Democracy Action Fund. Every two years, the board will be replaced and a new board drawn.

Section F. Participants will receive a daily expense allowance of at least $80 for meetings. Transportation, childcare and eldercare costs also may be reimbursed.

Provision 5. A Secretariat of Support

Section a. Citizens Assemblies are tools of both democracy and technocracy. Assemblies require technocratic work and support for their organization and management, and to bring relevant people and expertise to the assembly.

Section b. Citizens Assemblies must have an independent technocracy to organize, facilitate, and oversee the assembly process.

Section c. This legislation creates a permanent secretariat of independent people, whose sole mission is the support and organization of Citizens Assemblies.

Section d. The secretariat will work with Citizens Assembly participants, government officials, and other institutions to identify relevant experts who can testify before the Citizens Assembly. The secretariat will have power to subpoena experts to testify.

Section e. Any requests to meet with Citizen Assembly participants, or any materials that groups, lobbies or individuals wish to share with Citizen Assembly participants, must be sent through the secretariat.

Provision 6. Review and Evaluation

Section A. Citizens Assemblies require independent, professional evaluations of their procedures and effectiveness. A model is the evaluation processed used by FIDE-North America.

Section B. Upon declaring a Citizens’ Assembly, or recognizing an assembly requested by petition, the city council will hire an independent evaluator for the assembly

Section C. The evaluation shall be completed within 60 days of the conclusion of the assembly. The evaluation will be public.

Section D. The city is encouraged to have evaluators follow up on the assembly’s impact with short reports due 1 year, 2 year, and 5 years after an assembly

Provision 7: Implementation of Citizens Assembly Proposals.

Section A. There must be specific procedures for consideration and implementation of Citizens Assembly proposals.

Section B. All citizen assembly proposals must receive an official response, based on a public vote, from the government of relevant jurisdiction. Citizens assemblies must not be ignored.

Section C. The government or council of the relevant jurisdiction may agree to adopt citizens assembly proposals. The relevant council or government may reject the proposals in total, or reject some and accept others, or accept some proposals with modifications.

Section D. Once a council or local government has voted on proposals, that vote is returned to the citizens assembly for deliberation.

Section E. The Citizens Assembly can vote, by majority, to accept the government’s vote on its proposals, in whole or in part. This puts the proposals into effect in that jurisdiction.

Section F. The Citizens Assembly also can reject, by majority, the government’s decisions on acceptance, partial acceptance or rejections of its proposals. The Assembly’s rejections can be tied to specific provisions.

Section G. The Citizens Assembly cannot by itself enact provisions or proposals that the council or government of the jurisdiction has rejected.

Section H. The Citizens Assembly has the power to refer proposals or provisions rejected by the government or council of the jurisdiction to all the voters of the relevant jurisdiction for a referendum

Section I. Such a referendum, referred by the Citizens Assembly, must take place at the next scheduled election in the jurisdiction or within one year, whichever is earliest.