NEWS

Citizen Assemblies

Reforming LA’s democratic process

By Morgan Owen

When the LA City Council leak went public, concerns about the racist tenor of the conversation dominated the conversation, but underneath the shock of Nury Martinez’s words was the more complex issue of gerrymandering and redistricting. Indeed, the topic which sparked Martinez’s words regarded how certain councilmembers might gain political advantage though the redistricting process. Now, the Berggruen Institute, a Los Angeles-based think tank whose mission is to develop ways social and political systems can be reshaped, is looking at how the political process in LA can be reformed in the wake of growing public distrust. “When the (leak) happened just a few months ago…there was a lot of discussion about how we can make sure the redistricting process can't be manipulated by our politicians. In light of that, the (institute)… thought this might be a good time to see if folks in or around City Hall would be interested in pursuing citizens assemblies,” said Dawn Nakagawa, the executive vice president of the Berggruen Institute. A citizen assembly is a panel of public citizens called together to inform the democratic process by deliberating on specific issues. The assembly’s goal is to render recommendations that the government, ideally, has guaranteed they will follow. In the case of redistricting, that insurance might include a promise of instituting a permanent p ng or at least putting the option on the next election ballot. In LA, some other examples of issues a citizen assembly might address are homelessness, water policy, or amending the city charter. Likewise, on an even larger scale, citizen assemblies could address social and political issues statewide. Citizen assemblies have been very successful in Europe and work best when focused on divisive issues that are politically precarious to address. For example, Ireland used a citizen assembly to determine if gay marriage would become legal. In a highly Catholic country, the issue was stalled in the conventional political process, but through forming a citizen assembly, everyday Irish citizens, both conservative and not, decided to legalize samesex marriage. “Citizen assemblies are particularly effective in times of great controversy (because) policymakers feel a certain level of pressure to do something differently,” Nakagawa said. The Berggruen Institute has studied a multitude of successful citizen assemblies from California to Paris to see why cities formed them and what conditions produce the best results. Based on the trends, the institute believes citizen assemblies can be a tool to create less partisan politics with better public governance. One way citizen assemblies accomplish this is by creating a

COURTESY PHOTOS OF PETALUMA BY HEALTHY DEMOCRACY

Citizens assembly participants working together to determine the fate of fair grounds property in Petaluma County, California.

more accurate representation of a city's demographics, leading to a more proportionate crosssection of public opinion. Although participants can be selected through appointment or an election, according to the Berggruen Institute, the best results come from processes that randomly identify potential participants. On some level, however, our society isn’t arranged in a way that makes citizen assemblies easy to form. Barriers to participation, which can also skew results, include child care, elder care, transportation, inability to take time off work, lack of translation services, and ready access to the postal system. All these factors ultimately impact who can participate in citizen assemblies and who is not. One way to combat this is by providing adequate funding, either through impartial sponsors or governmental budgets, to provide an hourly wage and services to those who wish to participate in the citizen assembly. In examples studied by the Berggruen Institute, average wage compensation for participants typically ranges from $20 to $50 per hour. Despite these barriers, the Berggruen Institute has already assessed significant interest from the LA public to begin approaching local politicians and institutions in search of a sponsor. Sponsors are typically public officials, such as a city council member, who would act as a coordinator and ensure the decision brought forward by the assembly is fairly considered and actioned upon. Following a public teach this December, Nakagawa said the institute expects to begin approaching city council members in January. “(We plan to) approach folks that are entering the city council for the first time or folks that have been there before, and see if we can convince them that this is a good moment and a good approach for solving some of the distrust we’re seeing,” Nakagawa said. For those who want to become involved in the process, the best way is to reach out to the Berggruen Institute. In the coming months, Nakagawa expects there will be several opportunities for canvassing. “It's time for democracy to live up to the promise of being a government for people,” Nakagawa concluded. “And the current form of democracy we have–our electoral representative democracy–doesn't effectively do that. It hasn't for a long time.”