Democracy

Case 6

Ostbelgien: standing agenda council plus one-off citizens' assemblies

Author: Canning Malkin

On September 16, 2019, 24 randomly-selected residents of West Belgium were assembled to decide on the topics of the first institutionalized and permanent deliberative body in the regional government. As participants of the first Citizens’ Council, they represented the beginning of the implementation of what is now called the Ostbelgien Model. This model has since produced numerous Citizens’ Assemblies, deliberative bodies that are convened by a group of citizens and responsible for proposing policy recommendations on a topic chosen by that same group of citizens.