Direct Democracy in the DD&SA model means that residents hold final authority over decisions. Assemblies provide depth and analysis, but the public decides the outcome. This is not a petition system or a symbolic consultation. It is a structured way for residents to approve, reject, or amend proposals that affect their lives.
DD&SA combines the strengths of deliberation and direct voting: assemblies do the hard work of understanding complex issues, and residents exercise final judgement through clear, binding votes.
Residents propose topics online or in person. These can be local (e.g. planning, services, transport) or national (e.g. health, housing, climate). Proposals that gain enough support move forward.
A sortition assembly is selected to examine the issue in depth. Members hear evidence, question experts, and deliberate. Their task is to produce clear, understandable options for the public.
The assembly’s recommendations are turned into concrete options. Residents then vote directly on those options through secure, transparent voting. The result is binding within the DD&SA process.
This gives residents real power over outcomes, not just over who sits in a chamber every few years.
Voting in DD&SA is designed to be simple, secure, and accessible. The exact tools can vary by pilot, but the principles stay the same:
Traditional referendums often present oversimplified questions with little structured deliberation beforehand. In DD&SA, assemblies do the groundwork first, so residents vote on well‑understood, carefully framed options.
Direct Democracy in DD&SA is not a free‑for‑all. It is constrained by:
Direct Democracy without deliberation can become shallow. Deliberation without direct voting can become distant. DD&SA combines both:
To see how assemblies themselves work, visit: Sortition Assemblies →
To see how this scales into a full national system, visit: The DD&SA Blueprint →