On Saturday, Yale will host the first session of the first Connecticut citizens’ assembly, convening 100 randomly selected people to deliberate over potentially new approaches for how to fund and deliver essential community services.
Hélène Landemore, professor of political science and co-leader of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies Democratic Innovations program, designed the assembly and will help supervise it. Democratic Innovations seeks to identify and test new ideas for improving the quality of democratic representation and governance.
The assembly is a collaboration between the Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the University of Connecticut Department of Political Science, and ISPS.
We spoke with Landemore on the eve of the first assembly session to ask about her thoughts on its design, purpose, and hopes for its outcomes. The conversation has been edited and condensed.
What are your expectations for how the citizens will function in the assembly?
