Essay Review: Second Thoughts on the First Citizens Assemblies

Abstract

When two of the most distinguished university presses in the world publish books on the same political events in Canada, one can be sure that something somewhat out of the ordinary has occurred. The two books under review focus on essentially the same subject, save that the later book has the advantage of more evidence - three rather than one citizen assembly – and it shows. This review will focus uniquely on the two Canadian assemblies, however. The Dutch case, while interesting, tells us more about the dynamics of Dutch politics than it adds to the understanding of citizen assemblies which emerges from the Canadian evidence.

The issues in question arrive at the confluence of two important discussions on the renewal of democracy in the anglosphere – the potential of deliberative democracy to complement electoral democracy and the reform of electoral systems. Let us consider them in that order.