and proposes a shift towards an agonistic democracy. Counter-governance via endorsement of agonistic principles clearly exposes weaknesses in Renwick’s claim but whether it is accepted as a shortcoming of citizens assemblies depends on how an individual interprets a ‘better democracy’ and the fundamentals of democracy within itself. If a better democracy is to be fair, free, and faithful to decisions made by citizens it is only rational to conclude that deliberative sortition based citizen assemblies do not represent a better way of doing democracy, as they fail in all 3. Citizens assemblies were hoped to restore a decline in outcome legitimacy. Yet, it is incomprehensible to believe that this will be restored by conducting assemblies that include less than 0.00007% of the demographic (percentage of the UK population that took part in Renwick’s assembly 9 ). Primarily, the absence of research into how individuals deliberate is the greatest fault in Renwick's claim. Democracy can only be bettered via valid and reliable means which are not achievable when procedural impediments such as lack of knowledge in how differing socio-demographics communicate remain in place. Moreover, deliberation is not free. The agenda is predetermined, and the process of topic selection remains unstandardized. Furthermore, the lack of clarity regarding the implementation of outcomes is concerning. As public goods are deliberated, implementation of outcomes is a critical motivator in ensuring effective deliberation. Without transparency of how much citizens' decisions affect policy, assemblies can not be used to back Renwick’s claim. To reliably dispute Renwick’s claim we must take a holistic view of all assemblies. When doing this we find mixed outcomes in results. Although, noticeable success in Ireland there have been many unreported failures, for example, the lack of electoral reform in Canada and the Netherlands. This ambiguity alone is enough to deny that democracy can be bettered from citizen assemblies. Finally, democracy hinges on the ability of non-politicians to vote out electives if an initiative fails. However, it is unknown who is to bear responsibility if an outcome of an assembly is to be taken on board and to fail. If responsibility cannot be placed democracy cannot be betterment.
Bibliography Conway, M. Margaret, Political Participation in the United States , 3 rd ed (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2002)
9 Alan Renwick, ‘Citizens’ assemblies: a better way of doing democracy?’, Political Insight , 8.3, 24- 27 <https://doi.org/10.1177/2041905817744632> [accessed 14 July 2021].
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