There will be two Citizens’ Initiative Reviews this year. In Oregon, a regional CIR is being run by Healthy Democracy, in partnership with Portland State University, Oregon Kitchen Table, and/or the University of Oregon Journalism School. That CIR will study an affordable housing bond measure referred to voters by the Metro Council–the regional government around Portland. It’ll happen August 23-26, and if anyone is interested...

This podcast interview on the CIR just went live. It’s done by the Scholars Strategy Network, a group that aims to bring scholarly work into the public conversation. It’s 23 mins long. Enjoy!...

South Dakota’s legislature is considering establishing a Citizens’ Initiative Review Commission, but the name is possibly the only family resemblance to the CIR process created in Oregon. House Bill 1007 explains that “the Citizen Initiative Review Commission shall be composed of eleven members appointed by the State Board of Elections.” That includes former and current legislators, with Commission members serving four...

The US Centre at the Lodon School of Economics requested brief reflections on the impact of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR). A short article now appears there, “Evidence from Oregon shows that Citizens’ Initiative Reviews can improve voters’ decision-making about ballot measures.” The essays summarizes research on the inaugural CIR, which showed how reading the CIR Statement influences voters....

New and old data from the CIR research project has produced fresh insights on the CIR process. The newest article comes from Robert Richards, who recently completed a doctoral dissertation at Penn State on the importance of “intersubjectively relevant information.” Richards’ work includes theoretical and experimental studies relevant to the CIR, and his most recent publication uses the CIR to illustrate some of his theoretical...