Citizens' Assemblies are proven and continue to experience a significant upsurge. However, Citizens' Assemblies concerning complex challenges have yet to usher in major breakthroughs. Because of this, Citizens' Assemblies are now being criticized more frequently. In other words: it is becoming very clear that it is neccessary to pay more attention to and systematically approach the follow-up and implementation of citizen-assembly recommendations.

We are at a crossroads: if the impression arises that Citizens' Assemblies “don't make a difference,” participation as a whole might be discredited. Therefore, we need to further cultivate and develop Citizens' Assemblies if they are to contribute to strengthening the democratic capacity to act and to bolster our vibrant democracy in the global systems competition. What can be done?

The characteristics of the challenge are critically relevant for the process needed to solve it.

• Does the challenge present an understanding problem, i.e., is there merely a lack of knowledge, social dialogue, understanding of different perspectives and exchange? Then a well conducted dialogue process is needed.
• Does it present primarily a decision problem, e.g., a yes or no question that can be signed into law or implemented simply? Then a deliberation and negotiation process and the ensuing democratically made decision are needed.
• Or does it present an implementation problem, such as the case with the current, monumental issue of climate action? Then democratic negotiations and decisions are not sufficient: a collective implementation process must follow.

2. Think the Process Through to the End According to the Challenge

Identifying the type of challenge makes it possible to choose an appropriate process that is needed to solve the challenge. It also strengthens the ability to act. The significant phases of successful action are:

1. initiate a process
2. collectively deepen our understanding
3. decide
4. implement

Therefore, during the initiation phase of a participation process, it is essential to ensure the willingness to adequately address all necessary phases and to follow through until the end. If process flows are chosen that do not match the challenges, the ability to act cannot be strengthened and the lack of success leads to frustration for everyone involved. When complex implementation problems are concerned, the decision-making and implementation phases should be designed and appropriately budgeted from the outset.

3. Incorporate All Actor Levels

In order to effectively strengthen the democratic capacity to act in the face of complex societal challenges, all essential actor levels should be addressed and engaged as much as possible: politics, administration, citizenship, business, science, organized civil society and other institutions. At every step in the process, all levels of actors have different opportunities to make an impact. Transformative success can only be attained by an interconnection and integration of all levels.

For future Citizens’ Assemblies, we recommend that:

• The process should not end with the citizens' report: the decision and implementation must be conceptually planned, actively supported and financed from the outset. To this end, new formats should be developed and tested.
• Citizens' Assemblies recommendations should be addressed to a more diverse audience than simply political bodies: all levels of society should be involved in the implementation of transformative processes.

For dialogue or decision-making problems, the Citizens' Assembly typology presented here is very suitable for making conscious decisions about where which procedure and which form of democracy should be used and interlinked. However, the model has its limitations when confronted with matters of implementation. Therefore, we propose a twofold expansion of the model .

Implementation support provides (participatory) formats to each actor level. These formats are embedded in a holistic process.

The diagram shows a prototypical process flow of Citizens' Assemblies PLUS. It illustrates clearly that the results of the deliberative or negotiation process— the citizens' report of the CA — are not the end of the process; they are an important milestone along the way. The process must be continuously evaluated and adjusted as necessary. Two essential elements for success are the transparent presentation of developments and the joint celebration of successes and achievements.

Elements of the Freiburg Citizens' Assembly Model in Detail

Clicking on the respective elements of the Freiburg Citizens' Assemblies model opens a description.

Background of the Freiburg Citizens' Assembly Model

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