Although electoral democracies have been spreading across the globe, democratic development in those countries where electoral institutions have been long established appears to have stagnated, their citizens beset by a democratic malaise with respect to the formal political institutions of representative democracy. The indicators are well known, including declining rates of voter turnout, disaffection from political institutions, and widespread judgments that politicians are untrustworthy and often corrupt. Over the last few decades, citizens have been increasingly likely to view governments as overly attentive to special interests, while also ineffective, wasteful, and inattentive to the public good (Nye 1997; Norris 1999; Putnam and Pharr 2000).

The essays collected in this volume examine one example of recent responses to citizens' discontents: the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (CA). The CA was an assembly convened over eleven months in 2004, consisting of 160 citizens chosen by a nearly random method. The Assembly was charged with examining the electoral system of the province, and empowered to propose a new system for a referendum, should they conclude that the system should be changed. The case has captured the attention of those interested in innovations in democratic institutions and governance: the CA represented the first time in history that ordinary citizens have been empowered to propose fundamental changes to political institutions to their fellow citizens.

These chapters share the view that the CA should be assessed within the context of democratic deficits in the developed democracies.