This contribution explores a specific phenomenon of deliberative democracy known as ‘citizens’ assemblies’, i.e., structures and processes through which a representative and stratified sample of ordinary people chosen by sortition takes political decisions on issues of public interest, such as those related to the environment. We bring the reality of citizens’ assemblies closer to that of ‘civic environmental monitoring’, that is, a practice in which ordinary people collect data e.g. on the state of the environment, often to demand public interventions. After a brief analysis of the practices, we illustrate how the two forms of participation share common features and can have a complementary value. Both instruments appear to be useful in facilitating collective decision-making processes. However, they have different influence on the implementation of the decisions taken. We discuss how, in the preliminary phase of the citizens’ assemblies, civic monitoring could provide valuable information to be considered in the subsequent collective deliberation and formulation of decisions that can/will then be implemented by the authorities. Also in this last phase, we deem that civic monitoring techniques can be useful to oversee the implementation of recommendations made by the citizens’ assembly. We conclude discussing successful experiences of citizens’ assemblies in Europe and formulating a way forward for future lines of research, based on insights from a targeted discussion.
BERTI SUMAN Anna;
2026-07-09
Edward Elgar Publishing
JRC132511
9781035313761 (online),
9781035313754 (print),
https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781035313761/chapter18.xml,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC132511,
10.4337/9781035313761.00028 (online),
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