Resources & Reading

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Learn About Participatory Democracy

Essential Reading

Books

• "Against Elections: The Case for Democracy" by David Van Reybrouck - The foundational case for sortition
• "Democracy When the People Are Thinking" by James Fishkin - Research on deliberative polling and citizen assemblies
• "The Lottery of Birth" by Oliver Dowlen - Historical and philosophical examination of sortition
• "Deliberative Democracy" by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson - Academic foundations of deliberation
• "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky - Organizing principles (still relevant)
• "This Is an Uprising" by Mark Engler and Paul Engler - How movements build power

Academic Papers

• "Sortition: Theory and Practice" (2023) - Comprehensive review of global sortition experiments
• "The Epistemic Benefits of Deliberation" - Why deliberating groups make better decisions
• "Participatory Budgeting: A Meta-Analysis" - Evidence from 40 years of practice

Case Studies

Ireland's Citizens' Assemblies

Learn how Ireland used citizens' assemblies to tackle abortion and same-sex marriage - issues that paralyzed their parliament for decades.

• Official Archive
• Key lesson: Ordinary citizens, given time, handled contentious moral questions with more wisdom than politicians

Porto Alegre Participatory Budgeting

The Brazilian city that pioneered participatory budgeting in the 1980s, dramatically improving infrastructure and reducing corruption.

• Key lesson: Direct control over budgets increases civic engagement and reduces elite capture

Belgium's Permanent Citizens' Council

The German-speaking community's standing deliberative body that sets the parliamentary agenda.

• Key lesson: Sortition bodies can work permanently, not just for one-off questions

Facilitation & Practice

Guides & Handbooks

• "The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making" by Sam Kaner
• "OECD Guidelines on Citizens' Assemblies" - Practical implementation guide
• "Participatory Budgeting Toolkit" - Step-by-step implementation

Our Own Resources

• Organizers' Network - Templates, guides, and facilitator tools
• Reading Collective - Monthly discussions of key texts
• Training program information - [email protected]

Videos & Documentaries

• "What is Democracy?" (2018) - Documentary exploring the word's meaning
• "Demosthenes: The People's Right to Rule" - Short film on Irish citizens' assembly
• TED Talks: Search for "sortition", "deliberative democracy", "citizens' assembly"

Academic Institutions & Organizations

• Centre for Deliberative Democracy (Stanford University)
• Democracy R&D - Research and practice network
• Sortition Foundation - UK-based charity promoting sortition
• newDemocracy Foundation - Australian research and implementation
• MASS LBP - Leading practitioners of citizens' assemblies

Get Involved

The best way to learn is by doing. Join a participatory process, attend an assembly meeting, or train as a facilitator.