Citizen assemblies should involve citizens as experts on their own values

Abstract

Citizen assemblies (CAs) could enrich policymaking by unveiling public values and preferences for climate polices. Yet, the current paradigm guiding CAs is rationalistic and primarily fact orientated. This might underexploit the potential of CAs to bring a unique contribution to climate policymaking. I propose a paradigm shift that creates explicit room for citizens’ values in CAs. Using concrete examples, I illustrate how every step of CAs could be transformed to elicit citizens’ values: from citizen selection, to setting the remit, facilitating the discussion, and shaping and institutionalizing policy recommendations.