| Citizens Deliberative Councils |
Citizens Wisdom Council |
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| What are they? | Randomly selected groups of citizens are given specific issues to address. Their findings and recommendations are turned over to their convening authority and/or are widely distributed to media and the public. | Ongoing randomly selected groups identify pressing issues, work to solve them, and reach unanimous perspectives as an embodiment of the whole society, "We the People." |
| Examples … | • Citizens Juries (hundreds done)
• Danish-style Consensus Conferences (dozens done) • German Planning Cells • Citizens Assemblies |
The Citizens Wisdom Council is new. There have been successful experiments in organizations, schools, and cities. |
| How are they convened? | These one-time events are convened by citizen groups and/or politicians who wish to hear a legitimate, deliberative voice of the people on specific issues. | Ordinary people or some official body can initiate a regularly occurring Wisdom Council process. |
| Who sponsors it? | The government, a politician, or a respected non-profit organization. | The ongoing Wisdom Council creates its own sponsor over time -- We the People. It can be instituted into the system by popular amendment to the official charter or constitution. |
| How is expert information included? | With considerable attention to avoiding any perception of bias, conveners provide information on the problem and on solution options through balanced briefing materials and expert testimony whose compilation is overseen by a committee that includes diverse (adversary) experts. | No specialist expert information is required. Acting as We the People, participants consult their own experience and desires for the community, about which they are experts. Their main role is to stimulate a larger, more creative conversation, in which specialist experts participate directly, evolving whole-system conclusions. |
| Who facilitates? | There is a carefully selected “facilitator” who acts as both moderator, and at times as leader. | A “dynamic facilitator” (www.Tobe.net) helps the group determine and solve its biggest issues and reach unanimous conclusions. |
| The Council delivers what results? | Depending on the process design and their “charge” for the issue to be deliberated, they may recommend one of a number of predetermined options, or broad guidelines for policymaking, or craft options of their design -- and they may use majority vote, supermajority vote, majority/minority reports and/or consensus process to determine their agreements. | The Wisdom Council presents a statement to an audience and to the larger community that all participants support enthusiastically and unanimously. They also tell the story of how they arrived at this statement, which is important in sustaining the larger community dialogue. |
| How is the group comprised? | Usually a stratified random sampling, where a large group is chosen at random, its individual members' demographics are identified, and then a smaller group whose demographics match the community's profile is picked. Visible diversity is more important when decisions depend on a vote rather than consensus. Sometime large randomly selected councils are used to be more statistically valid. | Since the Council always reaches unanimity, involves an ongoing process, and functions as a symbol of We the People, a pure random sample is used. Over time all subgroups end up being represented proportionately. |
| What’s the strategy for change? | It’s a primarily rational, within-system strategy: A proxy group studies a specific issue of interest to officials and/or the public and weighs options to address it. If well-publicized and/or high quality, their conclusions may reverberate in ways that affect policy. Legislation or prior official commitment can further empower such councils. | It’s a creative, transformational strategy. A proxy group determines the basic issues of the system and frames them for a larger We the People conversation. As an ongoing iterative process, where the results and concerns of this conversation naturally flow into the next Wisdom Council, it provides a stimulus for ongoing change. |
| What’s the quality of conversation? | “Decision-making” or “deliberation.” which is a thoughtful, respectful, weighing of the various options they were given (or which they crafted). It is largely a linear, transactional conversation. | “Choice-creating,” where people think creatively from the heart, seeking to discover win/win solutions. This is a non-linear, transformational conversation. |
| Impact on people? | Participants tend to experience a new form of citizenship and feel enthusiastic. Also, many people and legislators become more informed about the issue, its numerous options and trade-offs and what the people think is the best approach to handle it. | Participants tend to experience a new form of citizenship and feel enthusiastic. Besides informing lots of people, Wisdom Councils also help the culture as a whole break out of denial, think more systemically and creatively, and become part of one inclusive, coherent public -- We the People. |
| Impact on policy? | There is indirect influence to the degree the results are demonstrably useful or wise and/or broadly publicized and popular. There may be a direct influence on policy if the council is delegated authority by those in power or given power by ballot initiative. For instance, the Parliament of British Columbia gave the Citizens Assembly the power to put an initiative directly to the voters. | The recommendations of Wisdom Councils may appeal to official decision-makers by virtue of their win-win merits. More importantly, as the Wisdom Council process gains widespread interest and involvement, We the People become legitimized and assume ultimate authority (if not direct power) over policy, elected officials, and the Constitution. The process could transform the nature of policy itself. |
| Cost? | Most citizen deliberative councils (e.g., citizens juries) cost between $10,000-$50,000, but especially large ones could cost millions. | Local grassroots Wisdom Councils can typically be done with volunteer labor and a few thousand dollars. National or official Wisdom Councils would cost more. |
| Relation between the two? | A Wisdom Council, acting as "We the People," can be the authority that assigns an issue to a citizen deliberative council, thereby providing a more direct democratic authority than when a politician or government agency convenes it and assigns the issue. | The Wisdom Council can convene Citizens Deliberative Councils, so We the People can explore specific topics in more detail, accessing specialist expert opinions as needed. |