Understanding Citizens’ Assemblies
About this episode
Dr. Andy Yuille discusses the role of citizens' assemblies in understanding public opinion on climate change and government policy.
What do the public think about climate change? How do they think governments should act? These are the people who will often be most affected by policy and action, so how do we find out their views? This answer may lie in citizens’ assemblies. Dr Andy Yuille, is an interdisciplinary qualitative social scientist (!) from the University of Manchester. He takes us through citizens’ assemblies and their role in creating understandings about people's thoughts about the environment and government policy, and how they show that members of the public can take informed, positions on difficult policy decisions. We encounter the concept of deliberative mini-publics, and how they can reflect the broader population to ensure views of assemblies reflect those of the public at large; discuss where and at what level climate assemblies operate; and understand how they are formed and operate, and the disqualifying factors for taking part. Andy tells us about his interest in how major decisions that affect the environment are made and his work on the Our Energy Futures panel; we look at the polarisation of society and how this affects matters; and how assemblies might be a way to build trust in…
People in this episode
Guest: Dr Andy Yuille
Topics covered
- citizens' assemblies
- climate change
- government policy
- public opinion
- deliberative mini-publics
- trust in government
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Manchester
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