Deliberative Democracy and Citizen Assemblies

Claudia Chwalisz at Noema:

Since the 1980s, a wave of such citizens’ assemblies has been building, and it has been gaining momentum since 2010. Over the past four decades, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have received invitations from heads of state, ministers, mayors and other public authorities to serve as members of over 500 citizens’ assemblies and other deliberative processes to inform policy making. Important decisions have been shaped by everyday people about 10-year, $5 billion strategic plans, 30-year infrastructure investment strategies, tackling online hate speech and harassment, taking preventative action against increased flood risks, improving air quality, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and many other issues.

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While the Parisian Citizens’ Assembly stands out for the extent of its competencies, it is not the only example of citizen representation and deliberation being institutionalized. In my recent OECD policy paper, I have outlined eight models of institutionalization, with examples spanning the globe and levels of government, from Bogotá to Toronto, Oregon to Brussels, Vorarlberg to New South Wales, Victoria, and more. Reflections in more places are taking place.

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Other models including standing citizens’ advisory panels, such as the two-year Toronto Planning Review Panel, where residents are chosen by lot to provide input on planning issues after an initial series of learning sessions. In Brussels, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and in numerous Polish cities, regulations give citizens the right to trigger the establishment of a citizens’ assembly if a petition collects enough signatures. The Australian state of Victoria has taken yet another path by embedding representative deliberative processes in local strategic planning through its Local Government Act 2020.

House Staff Turnover

Keturah Hetrick at LegiStorm:

Last year's rumored staff exodus was more than just speculation: According to LegiStorm data, House staffers left their jobs at the highest rate in at least two decades.

House turnover has crept upward since about 2009, but the pandemic and Capitol insurrection pushed far more staffers than usual to leave their jobs in 2021 - 55 percent more than in the preceding year. Last year's rates mark the House's highest turnover since at least 2001, the first full year of LegiStorm's salary data.

House Democrats were overall poorer at retaining staff and lost workers at a 24 percent higher rate than Republicans. Democratic staffers have been at the forefront of a recent push for staffer unionization.

Still, it was two Republicans who led the House in the highest turnover rates. Then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who resigned his seat in January to lead the Trump Media & Technology Group, lost left at nearly five times the House average. Fellow Republican Victoria Spartz (Ind.) came in second, with about 3.5 times average.

Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Pat Fallon (R-Texas), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) rounded out the rest of the ten worst.

LegiStorm's staff turnover index is salary-weighted, meaning that the departure of a higher-paid staffer, such as a chief of staff, will count proportionately more than that of a staff assistant or other lower-paid staffer. LegiStorm considers only full-time, non-temporary staff and excludes all interns and fellows.

Hispanic Population" 62.1 Million

 From Pew:

The U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, an increase of 23% over the previous decade that outpaced the nation’s 7% overall population growth. At the county level, growth played out unevenly, which resulted in the continued geographic spread of Hispanics. Numerical growth of Hispanics was largest in counties that already had significant Hispanic populations, but the growth rate was largest in counties with smaller Hispanic populations, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of decennial census data from 1980 to 2020.

Polarization and Confidence in Doctors

Jeffrey M. Jones at Gallup:

Republicans are less likely now than they were in the past to say they are confident in the accuracy of important medical advice their doctor gives them. Currently, 60% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are confident, down from 73% in 2010 and 70% in 2002. Meanwhile, more Democrats and Democratic leaners are confident now (71%) than were in the past, especially compared with the 62% measured in 2002.

As a result, Democrats' confidence exceeds Republican confidence for the first time in Gallup's trend, though majorities of both groups remain confident.

Opinion on Equal Justice

At Axios, David Nather reports on a new Ipsos poll:

By the numbers: Nearly six out of 10 respondents — 59% — disagreed with the statement "police treat all Americans equally," while 58% said the same about criminal justice courts and lawyers.

• Black Americans gave the system an especially strong vote of no confidence, with 84% disagreeing that police treat people equally and 76% saying the same about the courts.
• But 53% of white Americans, 62% of Hispanic Americans and 67% of Asian Americans also disagreed that police treat everyone equally, while 55% of white Americans and Asian Americans and 56% of Hispanic Americans voiced a lack of confidence in the courts.
• That lack of faith extended across virtually all other groups, including by gender, age, region, urban/suburban/rural residency, and education and income levels.
• The only hint of confidence in the police came from Republicans, with 51% saying police treat everyone equally (only 7% of Democrats and 18% of independents agreed). Just 42% of Republicans said the courts treat everyone equally.

Between the lines: Most Americans still have a positive view of the police, regardless of how they feel about equal justice. But that's not true of Black Americans — nearly six out of 10 (57%) said they have unfavorable views of the police and law enforcement.

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When Americans face the courts, the poll found a large gap in their experiences, with Black and Hispanic Americans more likely to depend on court-ordered attorneys than other groups.

• 43% of white Americans and 52% of Asian Americans said they've had their own attorneys when they or a family member has had to appear in court.
• By contrast, just 29% of Black Americans and 39% of Hispanic Americans had their own lawyers, while 49% of Black Americans and 43% of Hispanic Americans had court-ordered attorneys.
• That's important because public defenders are widely considered to be overworked and underfunded, and because researchers have become concerned in recent years that some public defenders might have their own forms of implicit bias.