Give people the right to convene at the local level.
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MODEL
Local Ordinance: The Right to Assemble and Decide Act
WHEREAS democracy is best understood as everyday people governing themselves
WHEREAS effective and democratic government needs the direct participation of everyday people in policy-making, government decision making and acts of government
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, selected by civic lottery, are effective engagement platforms that have been used hundreds of times, at all levels, to bring 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; the Parliament of the City of Brussels; and the German state of Baden-Württemberg have drafted laws giving the people the power to petition for Citizens’ Assemblies
This Model Ordinance is hereby created to promote more democratic and more effective governance at local and sub-national levels.
This Model Ordinance states:
Provision 1: What Are Citizens’ Assemblies?
Section a. A Citizens’ Assembly is a group of residents (it can include non-citizens), representative of our jurisdiction, convened to deliver public judgement (not public opinion) about a public issue. Assemblies will have at least 40 members. There is no limit on the maximum number of members.
Section b. Citizens’ Assemblies use lottery selection, rather than self-selection, to ensure that they are representative of the people of their jurisdictions.
Section c. Citizens’ Assemblies should be representative of their jurisdictions along lines of gender, local geography, class, education, political party, or other relevant factors, including race and religion.
Section d. Citizens’ Assemblies come together to learn about an issue, 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 require a permanent and independent secretariat, of skilled and independent people, whose only mission is the organization and support of assemblies.
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 among 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 discourage 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.
Section i. The request must provide a specific remit and question for the assembly to answer. The remit may not exceed 1,500 words.
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. Also, once every two years, the opposition in the council or parliament may call a Citizens Assembly.
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.
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, independent 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 local 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, will deposit an amount equal to 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 may also be reimbursed.
Section G. The local government may partner with or sponsor a lottery to raise money for the Democracy Action Fund. Ideally, the lottery will split the amount taken in 50-50 between prize winners and the Democracy Action Fund.
Provision 5. A Secretariat of Support
Section a. Citizens’ 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 secretariat 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.
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 their jurisdictions. The recommendations of 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. In each case, the council or parliament must explain its reasons for acceptance and rejection.
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.
