newDemocracy Foundation

The newDemocracy Foundation describes itself as an independent, non-profit, non-partisan research and development foundation. It argues that when everyday people are given authority, time and information they 'take the tough questions, side-step party lines, and deliver sensible answers', and it designs processes to test that claim in real decisions.

newDemocracy was launched in 2007, according to its own history page, with inaugural directors Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, Lyn Carson, Kathy Jones and Ian Marsh; Luca and Anita Belgiorno-Nettis are its founders and principal funders. In 2009 it took part in the Australian Citizens' Parliament, an assembly of 150 randomly selected Australians on strengthening the system of government, funded by an Australian Research Council grant. From 2011 its first full-time executive, Iain Walker, led more than 30 citizens' juries and assemblies over the following decade, commissioned by local and state governments. In 2017 it launched Democracy R&D, an international network of deliberative practitioners; in 2018 it advised on the design of the permanent Citizens' Council in Ostbelgien (Belgium) and later ran citizens' juries in Brazil, North Macedonia and Malawi commissioned by the United Nations Democracy Fund.

newDemocracy applies five principles to its projects:

1. Random selection of participants, so the group reflects the wider public rather than the loudest voices.
2. Time — typically about six months and at least 40 in-person hours across five or six meetings.
3. Information — participants decide what they need to know and whom they trust to inform them, and are warned that every source has a bias.
4. A clear remit, phrased neutrally and in plain language.
5. Upfront authority — the commissioning body commits in advance to how it will respond, so participants know their recommendations mean something.

It also publishes research notes and, with the UN Democracy Fund and UNDP, a handbook on citizens' assemblies, Democracy Beyond Elections.

The foundation is funded by donations and project revenue. Governments and other bodies that commission processes pay budgets intended to recover costs, including newDemocracy's fees, and each project page discloses its budget. Operating shortfalls are covered by an annual contribution of AUD 600,000 from the Anita and Luca Belgiorno-Nettis Family Foundation. It discloses its contributors cumulatively.

• Founder dependence. Core funding from a single family foundation creates dependence on the founders' continued support and priorities.
• Commissioning governments. Because governments set and pay for the remit, critics argue that they can steer processes towards acceptable questions or use juries to legitimise unpopular decisions; newDemocracy's requirement of upfront commitments responds to this concern but cannot guarantee implementation.
• Implementation gap. As with citizens' assemblies generally, recommendations have been partly or wholly rejected in some cases, which can undermine participants' trust.
• Scale. Deliberative bodies of a few dozen to a few hundred members reach only a small share of the population, raising questions about wider public ownership of their recommendations.