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Irish Citizens' Assembly
The 2012–2018 Irish deliberative assemblies that produced constitutional amendments on abortion and same-sex marriage — the most influential demonstration that sortition-based minipublics can resolve questions conventional politics cannot.
Between 2012 and 2018, Ireland convened a series of citizens' assemblies composed of randomly selected citizens, demographically representative of the population, who deliberated on constitutional and policy questions. The 2016–2018 Citizens' Assembly considered the Eighth Amendment (which prohibited abortion) and recommended its repeal; a subsequent referendum confirmed the recommendation by 66.4% to 33.6%. The earlier Constitutional Convention (2012–2014) recommended same-sex marriage; a 2015 referendum confirmed by 62% to 38%. Both issues had resisted resolution through parliamentary politics for decades. The Irish experience became the most cited demonstration that sortition-based minipublics can resolve questions conventional politics cannot.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The Irish design combined three features that shaped its success. First, the assemblies were composed through stratified random selection producing demographically representative pools. Second, they operated on extended deliberative timescales — months of meetings, with substantial time between sessions for reflection and follow-up — that allowed participants to develop considered rather than reactive judgments. Third, their recommendations carried institutional weight: