The social and public conversations about the issues that matter in the United States and elsewhere lacked two important ingredients – civility and discourse. We need a revolution by conversation. Our very survival depends on it.
A St. Patrick’s Day Salute to the Irish Citizens’ Assembly
During the week of St. Patrick’s Day, my website, BuildingANewReality.com, features Ireland’s pioneering use of citizens’ assemblies and sortition to do democracy differently—employing a randomly selected sample of Irish citizens to deliberate and propose a new law on abortion.
Are We (Collectively) Stupid?
Is humanity stupid? Can we collectively make clever decisions? Or is there no hope? Take fourteen minutes and watch this video, the second of his two Tedx Talks.
How Should We Live Together?
Can we do democracy differently? Brett Hennig, founder of the Sortition Foundation and author of The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy not only thinks so, but he is helping to demonstrate how sortition, random selection of representatives, can improve how we choose our decision-makers and do democracy differently.
Can Citizens’ Assemblies Repair Our Broken Democracy?
The state of modern politics in the western world is in disarray. There is a better way.
Reason 8 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence
This series, by BANR founder, Ted Wachtel, applies the concept of citizens’ assemblies to an urgent need that the U.S. Congress avoids — gun violence and how to prevent it. Wachtel identifies the reasons legislators can’t do it and why a diverse group of citizens can. No longer theoretical, in the last few years citizens’ assemblies […]
Reason 7 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence
This series, by BANR founder, Ted Wachtel, applies the concept of citizens’ assemblies to an urgent need that the U.S. Congress avoids — gun violence and how to prevent it. Wachtel identifies the reasons legislators can’t do it and why a diverse group of citizens can. No longer theoretical, in the last few years citizens’ assemblies […]
Reason 6 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence
“The voters arrived from all over the country: nine of them named John, 10 who’d come from mobile homes, four who lived in South Dakota. Twenty-seven considered themselves extremely conservative; 30 said they were extremely liberal. Twenty-one were out of work and looking for it. Two came with service dogs.”
Reason 5 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence
In 109 deliberative polls held in 28 countries around the world, after hearing speakers and deliberating with others, people change their choices from the first telephone poll almost 70 percent of the time.
Reason 4 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence
“The public is very smart if you give it a chance…If people think their voice actually matters, they’ll do the hard work, really study their briefing books, ask the experts smart questions and then make tough decisions. When they hear the experts disagreeing, they’re forced to think for themselves. About 70 percent change their minds in the process.”
