What about Extremists?

Extremist views will be minimised. The Citizens Council will engage a large enough group of Council members so that decisions are agreed between a majority and not skewed by the outsized presence of extreme viewpoints.

Will you be putting murderers in charge of the country?

No. We will use the same criteria for Council member selection as for jury members. Those criteria exclude people who have ever been sentenced to imprisonment for 5 or more years. The minimum sentence for murder is life. You can read more about these eligibility criteria here

Where do you stand on any issue?

The party, on an abstract level, doesn't hold ideological stances aside from the support of direct democracy. In practice though, before an election, we will convene The Citizens Council to determine party policy and this will become the policy that the party will champion for that election cycle.

Why would I endorse a system which may produce policy that opposes my beliefs?

This is a big question. Let's unpack it.

First - You may be aware of majority-held-opinions in the country that you don't agree with. Consider the way that these opinions were collected, it's more often than not a result of simplistic multiple choice questioning, with no opportunity for nuanced responses, discourse with others who would be affected or expert knowledge transfer. A Citizens Council would allow for all of these things, giving people the ability to caveat responses, empathise with others and access expertise. The format changes the output.

Second - Given all of the above, a Citizens Council may still produce policy that stands in opposition to your beliefs. With the opportunity of nuanced debate, empathy and expertise, if it is still a majority backed policy, consider that it may be more democratic, and it could be better for the country.

Third - Compare a Citizens Council to the current system that we have. In our current version of democracy we swing back and forth between opposing forces. Most of the time, the party that is in power is voted in by less than half of the electorate, many of whom see their party of choice as no more than the better of two or three bad options. A lucky few may feel politically represented for years at a time, however, if their genuinely desirable representatives lose an election (and they will) they are then completely shut out and unrepresented for other long stretches. A Citizens Council would incorporate the broad needs of a populace with compromise all of the time.

How can someone like me make policy decisions?

We've come from a time of monarchs ruling with absolute authority, to nobles and aristocrats ruling with great power to the version of democracy that we have today, where it is generally the case that a unrepresentative section of the middle class makes decisions on all of our behalf.

The people in power would have you believe that you are incapable of reason and that they are the safe pair of hands. It suits them just fine for you to believe this but they are not better than you. You have the best understanding and experience of your own life and needs.

You are not alone. You, or anyone on a citizens council, will be accompanied many other people in the same situation as well as facilitators and diverse experts. We will do this together.