Long Read
(VNP Photo by Phil Smith)
Anusha Bradley
Wellington, December 27, 2023
During a weekend in Dublin in 2013, Jonathan Moskovic made a curious observation that would change his life.
A thousand kilometres away in Paris, people had taken to the streets over marriage equality proposals. Hundreds of thousands joined the protests, and violent riots erupted.
“While in Ireland, 99 people were in a room peacefully discussing the topic and deciding to change the law,” Moskovic said.
The Movement in Ireland
He was following the progress of Ireland’s first-ever Constitutional Convention – a group of 66 randomly selected citizens and 33 politicians who met one weekend a month over more than a year to thrash out potential changes to the country’s constitution. It was a novel approach from a new government elected in 2011 on the promise it would make an array of changes to help the island nation recover from the worst financial crisis it had ever seen.
On the weekend the group tackled marriage equality, Moskovic considered the French and Irish approaches, and had “a revelation.”
“That was the moment I fell in love with deliberative democracy. I realised in our polarised societies the only way to deal with issues like that is through true deliberation,” he said.
Both France and Ireland ended up legalising same-sex marriage, but the process each country went through could not have been more different. While France endured divisive debates and even violence, barely a placard was waved in Ireland before it became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote following a referendum.
Why the difference? In France, the decision was left in the hands of politicians. In Ireland, it was largely left to a group of ordinary people who took the time to weigh up all the options before making a recommendation for politicians to enact.
Citizens’ Assembly across the world
This process is called a Citizens’ Assembly, a developing form of deliberative democracy that is sweeping the world.
Citizens’ assemblies originated in ancient Greece but have made a resurgence in the last decade and are now commonly used throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Since that weekend, a decade ago, Moskovic has made a career out of his love for the process. Now an Advisor in democratic innovation for the President of the French-speaking Brussels Parliament, he runs citizens’ assemblies tackling issues from homelessness to biodiversity. He also advises governments all around the world on how to do the same.
A widening divide in New Zealand
There is no shortage of divisive issues in Aotearoa: Euthanasia, Cannabis, Covid-19 Mandates and, most recently, issues raised over the Treaty of Waitangi are among the latest hot-button topics. But New Zealand has been slow to join the Citizens’ Assembly Party – the first few have only been carried out at a local council level this year.
Earlier this year, a group of eminent scientists at Auckland University warned Aotearoa’s social cohesion is “straining at the seams.” The looming general election would only highlight the country’s “political fault lines,” the researchers at the Koi Tū Centre for Informed Futures wrote in a paper, as we experienced increased polarisation fuelled by distrust in institutions, government and increased mis and disinformation.
“These are testing times,” warned Auckland University Centre for Informed Sources Sir Peter Gluckman, a former Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister.
He said that special attention was needed to strengthen both institutional and social trust.
The warning seems only more relevant post-election, as protests over the Treaty of Waitangi rights erupt across the country and discourse around race becomes ever more divisive.
Loss of trust in government, institutions, media and democracy is in decline globally and New Zealand is not immune.
But what if there is a way to rebuild this trust? What if there is a way to have considered debates about tricky issues of national importance that do not lead to protestors glueing themselves to a Wellington road or defacing a museum exhibit?
What if there is a way to reduce the noise created by polarising or extreme views and find workable solutions to seemingly irreconcilable issues?
The Ireland Model
If Ireland can do it, New Zealand can too, says Ireland’s Electoral Commission chief executive Art O’Leary.
His current role was created following a recommendation from the country’s first Constitutional Convention that he designed and ran in 2012. As well as recommending same-sex marriage be legalised, the group also suggested a host of other reforms, including the establishment of an electoral commission.
In 2016, O’Leary ran Ireland’s second citizens’ Assembly, this time without the inclusion of politicians in the room, and to everyone’s surprise, the group came up with a proposal to legalise abortion that went far beyond what most had been expecting.
“Our country, for the last 60 years, was unable to have a civilised conversation about abortion, because the minute the conversation starts, the people speaking retreat to the extremes and start shouting at each other,” he said.
The Citizens’ Assembly format changed everything.
“It provides a safe environment to have a conversation. There is zero tolerance for conflict in that room. You are allowed to express your opinion, whatever that opinion is, in complete safety, and people will be respectful of you too.”
That Assembly ended up making extensive recommendations for a much more liberal abortion regime than the government or media had been expecting and, because of this, the recommendations were largely panned by both institutions as unpalatable to the general population.
“But the mood in that room was spot on. The hundred citizens in the room voted 67 to 33, in favour of this liberal regime. And when the government put that question to the people, the result in the national referendum was 66-34,” O’Leary said.
According to him, this proved two things.
“First, that room was perfectly representative of the Irish people. Secondly, there are occasions where the people certainly are much further ahead in their thinking than the political system, and if you give citizens information they can be nuanced and sophisticated in how they approach something.”
He said that it was a “lightbulb moment.”
“Marriage equality and abortion were the two most intractable political problems that there had ever been in this country in decades and citizens’ assemblies have led to a resolution in both,” O’Leary said.
Ireland has since run multiple assemblies, tackling issues such as biodiversity loss, local government and gender equality. The process has “transformed” Irish people and the Irish political system, O’Leary said.
It has been so transformational that O’Leary has provided advice to 41 countries on the issue. “Something is going on in the world right now, and political systems are looking for a way that citizens can become involved in policy development and decision-making. Citizens are crying out for their voices to be heard. It does appear as if we have found a way to manage those irreconcilable issues and it seems to work.”
The recipe for successful debate
So how does a citizen’s Assembly actually work?
Experts say that there are a few key ingredients that must be considered for a successful Assembly: the citizens selected must represent the population; the question or issue posed must be so complex or so divisive it has not been able to be solved by the usual political processes; the citizens must have control over the sources of information they receive and have time to digest it; and it must be very clear from the outset what a government will do with the recommendations made by the group.
Sydney-based New Democracy Foundation Executive Director Iain Walker has run dozens of citizens’ assemblies at a local government level across Australia over the last decade, deliberating on topics as diverse as balancing council budgets to reducing alcohol-fuelled violence.
He said that they work particularly well for topics where a middle ground is needed between arguments at the end of each extreme.
“On issues on crime, tax, urban planning, anything where there is a real chance for electoral incentives to drive polarisation. This can be a great counterbalance,” he said.
But there are also downsides to this process.
“It can be slow and expensive,” Walker said.
According to him, it costs about A$ 1 million ($1.1 million) to hold a Citizen’s Assembly on a national level. He argues that in some cases it would be worth it. Australia spent A$ 450 million on its failed Indigenous Voice referendum earlier this year, and Walker believes that the result may have been different if a citizens’ Assembly had tackled the issue first.
The constraints of time
Political timing is also another barrier.
“Short political terms mean that when there is an issue today, people want an answer tomorrow. We need issues where it is early enough for a government to pause and wait a few months to give citizens a chance to think and not react,” Walker said.
He said that time is essential for deliberative democracy. Assemblies run by the Foundation are often held over six days, each day spaced three weeks apart.
“It gives people a chance to slow down and think; it gives them a chance to pose questions. And the organisers, in the intervening three weeks, go and get answers.”
Assemblies must also be designed to avoid manipulation by governments and outside interests, and participants must have control over the sources of information.
Transparent methods for recruiting participants are key. Walker initially sends out 30,000 invites to people who roughly match the census. Of those who opt in, a second random draw further refines the group according to the census by gender, age bracket, suburb and whether they rent or own their own home.
In Ireland, organisers also ensure there are people in the room who match other segments of the population, including those with disabilities, migrants or single parents.
Citizens are also paid for their time. In Brussels, they receive a stipend of €83 a day (about $145) and are allowed to bring a support buddy, who is also paid. Children’s activities are provided onsite so parents can also participate.
The Wellington Experiment
A citizens’ Assembly organised by Wellington City Council this year to consider its long-term plan paid its participants $800 apiece, plus extra for childcare costs.
The whole project cost $88,936, which Wellington City Council Engagement Manager Lexy Seedhouse believes is “pretty cost-effective” considering the amount of effort involved.
Typically, the total cost of engagement over the long-term plan can be between $200,000 and $300,000, she said, although that could vary depending on the significance of the issues involved, the need to reach out across the whole city in different ways, the range of ways needed to do that, and meeting legal requirements.
“I think what was successful [about the Assembly] was that they started as a diverse group of strangers. One participant was a Professor who had studied government for decades. Then we had another who was 16. One of the awesome things was that the people in the group were respectful of each other because they had a shared purpose and they were motivated to contribute to the future of the city.”
The Assembly made a series of recommendations last month, and the council has agreed to report back on how their advice will be incorporated into the plan.
It goes a step further in Brussels, where, by law, politicians who disagree with recommendations must publicly explain why, Moskovic said.
“It adds a very strong pressure on the politicians, and they hate it,” he said.
It means that, of the more than 250 recommendations made by citizens’ assemblies over the last few years, only two have been rejected by politicians, and local research shows the population’s trust in institutions has increased.
Institutional Lasagna in Belgium
Fostering trust in institutions has been especially important in a country like Belgium, which has a complex political system, Moskovic said.
The country has nine Parliaments, conducted in three official languages.
“We call it an institutional lasagna. We have so many layers and one of the major political problems is the lack of coordination between the layers,” he said.
Adding citizens’ assemblies to the mix might seem counterproductive, but it improves the communication and decision-making process, he said.
“It might look like it is adding an extra layer but in fact, it is a transversal one – the sauce that goes from one layer to the next.”
Is it time to talk, Aotearoa?
Belgium’s success has also placed Moskovic in hot demand all over the world. He has recently been in Lebanon and Montenegro and is off to Kosovo next month to advise on how a Citizens’ Assembly might ease ethnic tensions there.
He believes it’s the “perfect tool” for deliberating minority issues, especially where people feel marginalised from the conversation, and its use as a peacekeeping tool is an emerging field of study.
The Treaty and the Referendum
With the possibility of a referendum on The Treaty looming in the not-too-distant future – an idea that is already proving divisive – could a citizens’ Assembly tackle the issue instead?
It is a resounding ‘yes’ from Professor Gluckman, whose Centre for Informed Sources researchers have overseen the design and delivery of citizens’ assemblies run by Auckland’s Watercare and its Council’s long-term plan this year.
“A referendum would be a disaster. You have a situation where there are very competitive views of the narrative; there are different versions of the English and Te Reo versions of the Treaty and it is a very complex and confused situation … and most people would not understand the nuances,” he said.
How, or what, a citizens’ Assembly might look like in a New Zealand context still has to be worked through, but one thing is clear: “It needs to be a more deliberative and informed process. The Treaty affects everybody in New Zealand. There is a deeper discussion that has to be had on this particular issue,” Professor Gluckman said.
O’Leary, who fondly remembers padding around Waitangi’s wharenui in his socks during a state visit with the Irish president a few years ago, believes a citizens’ Assembly is just the forum to help New Zealand “ventilate” some of those issues.
“I always say that New Zealand is the place most like Ireland, outside of Ireland. So can citizen(s)’ assemblies work in New Zealand? Of course, they can.
“New Zealand has a deep appreciation of culture, you enjoy debating and learning. So of all the countries in the world, I think you have a better than even chance of doing a good job with this,” he said.
Anusha Bradley is an Investigative Reporter at Radio New Zealand. The above Report and pictures have been published under a special agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
