LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT Alan Renwick, University of Reading [email protected] 1 A UK CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION:

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

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Alan Renwick, University of [email protected]

A UK CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION:WHAT LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM IRELAND?


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UKCC: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

• all UK-wide parties except the Conservatives have said they want a citizen-led constitutional convention• the Conservatives have indicated willingness to consider the

idea in certain circumstances• initial ideas were often rather vague:

•Labour: the process “will bring together MPs and councillors with ordinary citizens and civil society”

•Lib Dems: CC “should have a Citizen’s Jury at its heart, representing every corner of the UK”

• it’s not clear how far thinking has progressed since then


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QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ICC

• practicalities of the support team:•what are the functions of the Chair and what sort of person

is needed to fulfil these?•what skills do facilitators need and where should they come

from?•what sorts of academic support are required?

• practicalities of CC management:•what kind of venue is optimal?•what forms of practical support do members find most

helpful?


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QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ICC

• did mixing politicians and ordinary citizens work?• how did they media react and how were they managed?• how should deliberation be structured?


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MIXING POLITICIANS AND CITIZENS

• did politicians engage effectively?•did they regularly turn up?•did they deliberate rather than pontificate?•did they engage with each other and with citizen members?

• have they subsequently helped ensure the ICC’s recommendations get a fair hearing?

•to what extent have they served as ambassadors for the ICC?

•to what extent have they successfully swayed others?•have they shifted expectations as to how the ICC is treated?•what is their role in the referendum debate?


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MIXING POLITICIANS AND CITIZENS

• how did the presence of politicians affect citizen members?•did they engage with the politicians?•did they still feel fully part of the ICC?•what has their role been since the ICC ended its work?


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MEDIA RELATIONS

• how did the media report the ICC’s work?•how positive or negative were media portrayals?•how did these change over time?•did the media report on individual members?

• how did the ICC manage its media relations?•what degree of attention was given to this issue?•were there attempts to reach understandings with the

media as to what would be appropriate or inappropriate?


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STRUCTURING DELIBERATION

• to what extent could the deliberative model be followed within the constraints of the ICC’s timetable?• does the ICC experience show the limits of what a citizens’

assembly can be expected to do?

Documents

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT Alan Renwick, University of Reading [email protected] 1 A UK CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: