Seeing the CIR in the larger context of democratic reform

With Hollie Russon-Gilman, a colleague at the New America Foundation, John Gastil wrote an essay for the Washington Post online on February 19, 2016 entitled, “These civic experiments are getting citizens more involved in governing themselves.” In the essay, the authors argue that bringing the public back into the business of government can yield not only better public policy but also, potentially, more public confidence in...

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CIR on Australian radio

Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC, equivalent to BBC in the UK) did a 20-minute story on a citizens’ jury in Melbourne and drew on the experience of the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review as a point of comparison. I (John Gastil) provided commentary on the Oregon case, which serves as an example of how citizen deliberation can get built into government institutions. The Melbourne citizens’ jury came up with recommendations...

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