Data

General Issues
Governance & Political Institutions
Collections
The POLITICIZE Project on Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe
Location
Scotland
United Kingdom
Scope of Influence
National
Links
Scottish Government - Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland
Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland Official Website
The POLITICIZE Project
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
Yes
Time Limited or Repeated?
Repeated over time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Develop the civic capacities of individuals, communities, and/or civil society organizations
Approach
Consultation
Spectrum of Public Participation
Consult
Total Number of Participants
100
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Limited to Only Some Groups or Individuals
Recruitment Method for Limited Subset of Population
Stratified Random Sample
General Types of Methods
Deliberative and dialogic process
General Types of Tools/Techniques
Facilitate dialogue, discussion, and/or deliberation
Specific Methods, Tools & Techniques
Citizens’ Assembly
Deliberation
Legality
Yes
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Discussion, Dialogue, or Deliberation
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
Public Report
Type of Organizer/Manager
National Government
Staff
No
Volunteers
No

CASE

Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland

General Issues
Governance & Political Institutions
Collections
The POLITICIZE Project on Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe
Location
Scotland
United Kingdom
Scope of Influence
National
Links
Scottish Government - Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland
Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland Official Website
The POLITICIZE Project
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
Yes
Time Limited or Repeated?
Repeated over time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Develop the civic capacities of individuals, communities, and/or civil society organizations
Approach
Consultation
Spectrum of Public Participation
Consult
Total Number of Participants
100
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Limited to Only Some Groups or Individuals
Recruitment Method for Limited Subset of Population
Stratified Random Sample
General Types of Methods
Deliberative and dialogic process
General Types of Tools/Techniques
Facilitate dialogue, discussion, and/or deliberation
Specific Methods, Tools & Techniques
Citizens’ Assembly
Deliberation
Legality
Yes
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Discussion, Dialogue, or Deliberation
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
Public Report
Type of Organizer/Manager
National Government
Staff
No
Volunteers
No

The Citizens’ Assembly was created to engage citizens on issues regarding the country's future on an inclusive, informed and respectful basis. Assembly meetings will be held over six weekends from 25/26 October 2019 to 24/26 April 2020 in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Problems and Purpose

The Government of Scotland set up a Citizens’ Assembly to deliberate on the future of Scotland, its relationship to the UK, and the main challenges for Scotland’s future. The task of the Citizens’ Assembly was to consider three broad issues:

  1. What kind of country Scotland should be?
  2. How can Scotland best overcome challenges, including those arising from Brexit?
  3. What further work is required to enable people to make informed choices about the future of Scotland?

The work of the Citizens’ Assembly is to link to other constitutional issues that the Scottish government led by the Scottish National Party is considering. These include the establishment of a legal framework providing the option for a referendum and cross-party talks to identify areas of agreement on constitutional change.

Background History and Context

The Scottish Regional Government decided in 2019 to set up a Citizens’ Assembly after being inspired by the Irish Constitutional Convention.

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

Participant Recruitment and Selection

The Assembly comprised 100 members of the adult population (aged 16 and over) of Scotland who were randomly selected to participate. They were to be broadly representative of Scotland’s adult population in terms of socio-demographic variables and political attitudes/views. Specific quotas on political attitudes were set up, in direct connection with the topics to be debated by citizens. The relevant attitudes were attitudes towards Scottish independence, the UK’s membership of the EU and Scottish Parliament voting preferences. Elected or appointed representatives (including MSPs, MPs, MEPs, councillors and Members of the House of Lords), the staff of political parties, public appointees and senior public and civil servants and the representatives or officials of relevant advocacy groups were ineligible to be Assembly members. Recruitment was to be undertaken by a skilled and experienced independent organisation over the course of the summer. 

Methods and Tools Used

Citizens' Assembly

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

Oliver Escobar from the University of Edinburgh said, “there must be further clarity about the task/job given to the assembly, because that determines the evidence, speakers and sessions needed to inform deliberation at various stages of the process. This also requires clarity about how the results will be used — what's the power of the assembly? How to avoid subsequent cherry-picking of the proposals/recommendations? But also how to ensure checks and balances in the way the assembly connects to other parts of our current democratic institutions. All of this is about systemic coherence — the assembly cannot be an island, it needs to be clearly placed in the context of other institutions and how it relates to them. "

Analysis and Lessons Learned

See Also

References

External Links

https://www.gov.scot/news/citizens-assembly-of-scotland-1/

Notes

This entry is based on the POLITICIZE dataset. More information can be found at the following links:

  • Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1
  • Pilet J-B, Paulis E, Panel S.,Vitori D & Close C. 202X The POLITICIZE Dataset: an inventory of Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe. European Political Science.