Article by Jenny Gross: “…About 1,500 letters are sent once a year to randomly selected residents in Ostbelgien. Of those who indicate interest, about 30 are chosen to join the citizens’ assembly.
Starting in September, they meet on Saturdays for several hours over a period of two months, or longer if needed, and are assigned a topic. Each participant is paid a stipend of about 115 euros ($133) per day. They gather in the regional parliament building, which served as a military hospital during World War II, with a moderator employed by the government facilitating the discussions.
Though the assemblies’ recommendations are not binding, lawmakers are required to consider them, and many have been adopted. Among the changes they have spearheaded: easing eligibility requirements for low-income housing; including residents’ family members on the boards of assisted-living facilities; and new funding to encourage young people to take up professions such as nursing, which is facing a shortage in the region.The Belgian experiment recalls ancient Athenian democracy, in the 5th century B.C., when groups of free men were chosen at random to serve as government officials each year. There wasn’t much diversity in that citizenry, however, and these days, leaders in Eupen, the capital of Ostbelgien, acknowledge that what works in their small, relatively homogenous region may not translate everywhere.
The assemblies’ purview is also limited, naturally, to areas where the regional government has control, such as education and housing, rather than more divisive topics like the entry of immigrants which is overseen by the federal government in Brussels…(More)”.
