US funding freeze hits DemNext – an appeal
Local citizens' assemblies need funding as US Treasury suspends payments to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
Dear Friends of DemocracyNext,
We're writing to share significant news. The US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has written to grantees, including DemNext, informing us that NED is unable to access previously approved funds, and that they have “no clarity about the future”.
We're deeply saddened and concerned by this development and its wider implications for NED’s dedicated team and the many organisations they support. But we are determined to find a way forward.
While not a majority of our overall funding, the impact this has on DemNext is nonetheless profound. NED’s annual support of $280,000 has enabled us to seed and scale ongoing citizens' assemblies globally.
This is at a time when democracies are faltering and authoritarianism is on the march.
NED primarily financed our Cities Programme in the Global South, which aims to bring citizens’ assemblies into decision making around the world. Such assemblies have enormous transformative potential. Separately from our global work with NED, DemNext recently helped organise one in Deschutes County, Oregon, which was profiled in The New Yorker:
“These gatherings do what most democracies only pretend to: trust normal people to make decisions on difficult policy questions… The model reflects the striking idea that fundamental problems of politics – polarization, apathy, manipulation by special interests – can be transformed through radically direct democracy.”
"DemocracyNext, run by Claudia Chwalisz, is really one of the leading organisations in the world promoting citizens' assemblies."
– Roger Berkowitz, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College of the U.S.
You – along with over 13,000 fellow subscribers – are part of a growing movement that believes in democracy's capacity for renewal. Today, we're asking for your support in three ways:
For philanthropists and institutional funders: Help secure the future of DemNext’s work seeding and scaling citizens’ assemblies - with cities, museums, and workplaces, supported by technology. Your investment will directly support communities who are ready to implement innovative democratic practices.
For individuals: Donate directly or become a paid subscriber to our Substack channel, where we share detailed insights about citizens' assemblies and democratic innovation. Your subscription directly supports our work while keeping you informed about the latest global developments, like how the permanent Paris citizens’ assembly passed a bill into law, Japan’s 500+ assemblies, and our paper on the case for local and regional public engagement in governing AI.
For everyone: Share our story with your networks. Democratic innovation thrives through community awareness, engagement, and action.
This moment isn't just about bridging a funding gap—it's about providing hope and solving real problems in polarising times.
We remain committed to this vital work. With your support, we'll continue enabling citizens and governments to solve some of the most pressing problems through the innovative and proven means of citizens’ assemblies.
Another democratic future is possible.
📡 What’s on our radar
🏙️ We're proud to share that our founder & CEO Claudia Chwalisz has been chosen as one of the top 25 global thinkers on municipal democracy by the UK's Local Government Information Unit (LGIU). The list is a first for the 40-year-old LGIU, supporting its Future Local Lab hub to "explore ground-breaking ideas and success stories from around the world".
👷🏿 Deliberative democracy is coming to the workplace! DemNext is delighted to be collaborating this spring with MONDRAGON Corporation – the biggest business entity based in the Basque Country in Spain, with €11 billion of sales and 240 businesses, more than 80 of which are cooperatives – and our partners at MIT Center for Constructive Communication and Arantzazulab. We aim to replicate in the workplace the sense of engagement, purpose, and joy that we associate with more policy-related citizens’ assemblies – all in the service of better decision making.
🗓️ Mark your calendars! Beautiful Brussels is this year's host of the annual forum on 15-17 October of Democracy R&D – the largest global network for deliberative democracy and democratic innovation. This year's organisers G1000, Missions Publiques, Federation for Innovation in Democracy - Europe and Democratic Society have given the conference the title "Democracy at the Crossroads".
➡️ Practitioners, policymakers, and advocates who attend will explore ways of countering polarisation and democratic backsliding, pathways to systemic change and new strategies for impact – as well as hearing more about Belgium's pioneering advances in citizens' assemblies.
🏃 February has been a remarkable month for citizens' assemblies around the world! Energy use in Finnish homes, European citizen input for the EU budget, Norwegian citizens' proposals on sustainable consumption, the recommendations launch from Birmingham Museums’ citizens’ jury, how to use Norway's gigantic sovereign wealth fund, the future of bees in Europe, and even a ray of democratic hope in Israel-Palestine.
A big shout-out and many thanks to our colleagues at Germany's Buergerrat.de for keeping us all so well abreast of news about deliberative democracy from the record-breaking federal republic and beyond 🙏
Update on 21 February 2025: We have updated the fifth paragraph of this newsletter to make clear that NED was not involved in financing our work on the 2024 Deschutes Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness.