Democracy Redesign
The Democracy Redesign Program explores how the rules, institutions, and principles that define democracy can be reimagined through deliberation and sortition. Its goal is to understand and support ways in which democratic systems—whether local, national, or supranational—can evolve to become more inclusive, participatory, and resilient.
Through collaborative research, design experimentation, and member-led initiatives, the program seeks to connect deliberative democracy practitioners with reformers working on constitutions, city charters, and institutional transformation. By sharing experiences, tools, and strategies across the Democracy R&D Network, it helps members become better prepared to respond to reform opportunities and shape democratic systems for the future.
Objectives
The program focuses on:
01
Explore how deliberative and sortition-based practices can inform constitutional, charter, and institutional reform.
02
Increase awareness of reform opportunities and build the capacity to respond effectively when they arise.
03
Develop shared tools—such as design templates, communication materials, and rapid-response strategies—to support reform initiatives.
04
Strengthen connections between the deliberative democracy community and constitutional or governance reform movements around the world.
Key Activities
Promoting research and experimentation on how deliberation can shape constitutional and institutional design.
Facilitating collective learning among network members through workshops, calls, and joint projects.
Supporting collaboration and preparedness for democratic reform opportunities through shared templates and communication resources.
Building bridges between theory and practice, ensuring that innovative ideas can inform real-world reforms.
Featured Group: Deliberative Charters and Constitutions Interest Group
As part of the Democracy Redesign Program, Democracy R&D created the Deliberative Charters and Constitutions Interest Group, a dedicated community focused on how deliberation and sortition can be integrated into foundational governance documents—such as constitutions, city charters, and international treaties—and the processes of designing or amending those documents.
This group functions as an open collaborative space rather than a formal project team, allowing members to exchange ideas, showcase their work, and explore opportunities for joint initiatives.
Focus and Scope
The group concentrates on:
- Foundational documents that define democratic governance (constitutions, city charters, treaties, and similar frameworks).
- New ideas from deliberative democracy for both the content of these documents and the processes used to revise or reinvent them.
- Researching and testing how civic lotteries and public deliberation can be institutionalized within constitutional frameworks.
The group’s activities contribute directly to the broader Democracy Redesign Program by turning reflection into practice—exploring how to apply deliberative principles to real constitutional and charter reforms worldwide.
How the Group Operates
- Meetings and Format
The group meets every two months, combining open discussions with mini-workshops and project updates. Each meeting includes time for introductions, presentation of member projects, feedback sessions, and planning next steps.
- Collaborative Tools
Between meetings, members stay connected through an Slack workspace, organized around four channels—requests, projects, information, and discussions—making collaboration flexible and ongoing.
- Knowledge Sharing
Members contribute to a shared, crowdsourced database collecting relevant ideas, projects, organizations, and key actors working on deliberative constitutional reform. This “wiki-like” approach allows everyone to participate at their own pace.
Membership and Principles
The group is open to Democracy R&D members and collaborators who:
- Are exploring the intersection of constitutional design and deliberative democracy.
- Wish to share their own work, ideas, or research.
- Are open to feedback, dialogue, and cross-regional collaboration.
Members are encouraged to fill out a short profile, share updates about their projects, and help others when possible. The group operates with flexibility and humility—allowing members to contribute what they can, when they can, without the pressure of fixed commitments.
Benefits for Members
- Learning from peers’ research and experiences.
- Receiving feedback and visibility for their work.
- Access to a growing database of reform ideas and actors.
- Building new collaborations across the “deliberative democracy” and “constitutional reform” worlds.
- Contributing to an international community making steady, shared progress.
Documentation and Learning
Summaries of the group’s discussions and workshops are recorded and will be available through the Library section of this website, alongside other resources from the Democracy Redesign Program.
Looking Ahead
The group aims to serve as both a learning community and a launchpad for future collaborations. Planned developments include:
Publishing a crowdsourced international database on deliberative constitutional reform.
Developing templates, guides, and strategies to support reformers and practitioners.
Inspiring the creation of new interest groups under the Democracy Redesign Program, focused on other areas of democratic reform and innovation.
Get Involved
If you are interested in joining the Deliberative Charters and Constitutions Interest Group or taking part in the broader Democracy Redesign Program, please write to
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Highlighted Projects
The network’s members work to increase civic lottery use, deliberation, and democratic reforms, locally to internationally. DRD’s areas of work are collaborative learning, community building, field building, and democracy change.
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