Citizens’ assembly launched on attitudes to democracy

A UK-wide citizens' assembly looking at public attitudes towards democracy has been launched by the UCL Constitution Unit, which carries out independent research into constitutional change and the reform of political institutions. The Citizens' Assembly on Democracy in the UK will meet remotely over six weekends from 18 September to 12 December 2021. It will explore what kind of democratic system people want in the UK, with members hearing evidence from experts, politicians and campaigners, and discussing the issues in depth among themselves. The Assembly will comprise around 75 members, carefully selected to reflect the UK voting-age population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education, disability status, region, and political attitudes. It will investigate what roles people think should be played by government, parliament, the courts, and the public, and what expectations people have for how participants in UK democracy should behave. Assembly members will formulate recommendations on how democracy should operate, with the aim of informing debates about democracy among policymakers in governments and parliaments in all parts of the UK. Researchers believe that a thorough review such as this is overdue.