Shifting Power and Scaling Deliberation
Our 2025 Impact Report covers how we’ve been working to shift power and scale deliberation in lasting ways – with and beyond AI
A message from our Founder and CEO, Claudia Chwalisz, as we publish our 2025 Impact Report today:
DemocracyNext stands at the forefront of a growing movement to build a new approach to decision making in the common interest. At a time when authoritarian forces are trying to centralise power and deepen divisions between people, we are doubling down our efforts to broaden who has power, and show that it’s possible to govern in the common interest across partisan divides. We champion sortition, deliberation, and rotation – the foundations of self-governance, now being rediscovered and put to work in citizens’ assemblies around the world.
2025 was our third year. Several threads of our work came together – the conversation about technology, artificial intelligence, and democracy moved from the margins to the centre – and we were there, helping to shape it rather than react to it. We launched a network, wrote and published research, convened the field, and pushed the agenda that is at the frontier of some of the biggest questions facing our societies.
At the same time, our work to build lasting institutions deepened: in Birmingham, Deschutes, Vilnius, Esch-sur-Alzette, and Kerewan, and in the cooperatives of Mondragon, we have been working alongside others, and in partnership, to lay foundations and sow seeds for the years ahead.
The mood of the moment makes this work more urgent, not less. The ‘triple trust’ dilemma – where people’s trust in institutions, institutions’ trust in people, and people’s trust in one another are all alarmingly low – is real. But we see it as an opportunity as much as a problem.
We have a leapfrog moment: a chance to build democracies people can be excited about, rather than simply defending a status quo that is failing them.
We are proud of what we achieved in 2025, and deeply grateful to our team, partners, collaborators, and supporters who made it possible. Together, we are building a more just, joyful, and collaborative future where people have meaningful power to shape the decisions that affect their lives.
Another democratic future is possible.
→ Read the full report and help us double our impact by forwarding it to five people who also believe in a stronger democracy.
Thank you!
Our progress wouldn’t be possible without you - our partners, collaborators, supporters, and community. Together, we’re creating a more just, joyful, and collaborative democracy.
Your actions help the #DelibWave to gain momentum. Whether it’s:
Donating or upgrading to a paid subscription to support our mission
Encouraging your friends to sign up to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn (help us reach our goal to double our community by forwarding this on to 5 people!)
Sharing our papers and Assembly Guide with colleagues
Joining discussions here on Substack and on LinkedIn
Our key 2025 outputs
Research
Five Dimensions of Scaling Democratic Deliberation: With and Beyond AI
From Recommendations to Legislation: Learning from Paris’ Permanent Citizens’ Assembly
The Case for Local and Regional Public Engagement in Governing Artificial Intelligence
Spaces for Deliberation: Eight Spatial Qualities for Designing Deliberative Assemblies
Action
Collaboration started with Arantzazulab and Mondragon about democratising workplace decision making
The impacts of our first Civic Assembly in Deschutes, Oregon, and of Birmingham Museum Trust’s citizens’ jury one year on
Talks & podcasts
Claudia Chwalisz at the FARI Brussels Conference - Regulating and governing AI and Robotic agents - November 2025
How to Save Democracy: Meet the Pioneers - Claudia Chwalisz, Jon Alexander & Katy Rubin at The Conduit, London - September 2025
LGIU interview with Claudia Chwalisz as part of the ‘25 Top Local Government Thinkers’ list - July 2025
Fixing Democracy: Citizens’ Assemblies - Claudia Chwalisz joined David Runciman on The History of Ideas Podcast - September 2025
Deliberative Democracy & AI - Claudia Chwalisz joined the Denizen Podcast - July 2025
🗓️ Events
💪 Deliberative Muscles & AI
Thursday 9 July, 17:00-18:30 CEST
How can deliberative technology strengthen citizens’ democratic capacities to deliberate? This is the question authors Claudia Chwalisz, Sammy McKinney, Jorim Theuns, and Eugene Yi have been considering in their latest paper: “Deliberative Muscles & AI”.
Wednesday 15 July, 17:00-18:30 CEST
As our Cities Programme comes to a close, James MacDonald-Nelson and Hannah Terry examine in greater detail the learnings from working with cities and regions to institutionalise citizens’ assemblies - Vilnius (Lithuania), Kerewan (The Gambia), Esch-Sur-Azette (Luxembourg), and Central Oregon (USA).
➡️ On the radar
🍀 Reimagining Democratic Systems with More-than-humans, authors: Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini, Andraya Stapp, Hans Asenbaum, Fern Hames, Danielle Celermajer and Erin O’Donnell.
💵 Nest’s member assembly report is out, and it’s a lovely example of what happens when you actually ask your members to help answer a big question!
🚌 ‘Education and Its Public Purposes’, written by Danielle Allen, explores how schools can support both individual and collective thriving in our democracy.
🎉 Congratulations to our team mate Hannah Terry, for being selected to join Keseb’s Advisory Selection Committee for their inaugural Democracy Innovation Lab (iLab).