On December 8, 2022, Public Access Democracy sponsored Public Democracy LA, “What if the People Governed?” an interactive online introduction to citizens’ assemblies and how they can empower breakthroughs in local democracy. Co-hosted by the Berggruen Institute, The American Public Trust, Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, and Public Access Democracy, this 90-minute online teach-in brought together advocates and experts on …
Represent California is Public Access Democracy’s call for a constitutional assembly in California with delegates selected by lot. Written in 1879, California’s unwieldy constitution does not provide tools adequate to solve modern problems of housing, water, recall, districts, initiatives, commissions, budget, and taxation. An assembly with delegates selected by lot would incorporate a richness of …
On September 23, 2021, Linn Davis (Healthy Democracy) and Wayne Liebman (Public Access Democracy) traveled to Sacramento for the California League of Cities Conference, an annual gathering of mayors and city council members from across the state. They presented a workshop on Lottery Selected Panels as an out of the box technique to approach difficult …
PAD is currently campaigning to bring the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review process to California. In recent years big financial interests have used the initiative process to get propositions passed that were not in the voter and taxpayer interest. The flood of special interest, partisan advertising, while purporting to educate voters, in many cases misinforms the …
Rebuilding democracy starts from the bottom up. Elections are subject to a highly problematic political process. Local panels and commissions are appointed and not representative. Civic engagement in the form of public comment is usually limited to a minute or two per person. Public polling represents spur of the moment opinion, not considered judgment. Randomly …
