Report

Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on democracy in the UK

This report from UK think tank the Constitution Unit is the final report of the Citizens Assembly on Democracy and hopes to inform debates about democracy.

The Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK brought together 67 members of the public from across the United Kingdom over six online weekends between 18 September and 12 December 2021. Assembly members were recruited at random so that they resembled the UK voting-age population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, social class, region, and political attitudes. The Assembly explored what kind of democratic system people wanted in the UK, in particular, what roles people thought should be played by the government, parliament, the courts, and the general public, and also what expectations people had for how participants in UK democracy should behave. Over the six weekends, Assembly members had the chance to hear from and question a wide range of expert speakers and discuss their thoughts with fellow members. Members then formulated recommendations relating to the Citizens’ Assembly’s core question: How should democracy in the UK work? The report of the Citizens’ Assembly was published in April 2022. We hope that the Assembly and its recommendations will inform debates about democracy among policymakers in governments and parliaments in all parts of the UK.