Work

Providing a model for citizen deliberation over economic trade-offs

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the Citizens' Economic Council on the Cost of Living (CEC), focusing on the societal impacts arising from the project and its relationship to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The CEC was a citizens assembly designed to test whether deliberative mini publics can meaningfully inform complex economic policy decisions. It addressed the overall question: "How should UK government respond to the cost-of-living crisis through fiscal policy?". 39 citizens participated in six online workshops between March and April 2023, with sessions combining expert presentations, scenario-driven deliberation, microsimulation modelling, and household personas, so as to make complex fiscal policy trade-offs accessible to non-expert participants. The project’s principal societal impact was to show that non-specialists can successfully contribute to economic policy formation when given appropriate time and suitable tools. It provided a replicable model with was subsequently used to structure citizen deliberation over economic trade-offs in UK climate policy.

Source: Societal Impacts

DOI: 10.1016/j.socimp.2026.100172

Author: Christopher Holmes

Institution: King's College London

Language: English

Topic: Political Theory and Democracy

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Reduced inequalities, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $310