The State Constitutional

Convention Clearinghouse

U.S. states where the people can use a state constitutional convention to
bypass the legislature's gatekeeping power over constitutional amendment

Constitutonal Convention and Citizens’ Assembly News

(publications not otherwise included on the state-specific clearinghouse websites)

Directions: To search for a certain type of post, enter what you’re searching for in the filter fields above the database table.  For example, to search for constitutional convention news in Chile, enter “Chile” in the Location filter field. To filter by multiple criteria, enter information in multiple fields. For example, to search for constitutional convention news in Chile during 2021, enter a date range in the Date field from 1/1/21 to 21/31/21, and Chile in the location field. To search across all fields at once, enter a  word or phrase in the field marked “search.” 

wdt_ID Topic Scope Location Date Article Link Publication Note
1 ConCon Country Chile 12/24/2021 This Is a Do-or-Die Moment for Chile’s Incoming President New York Times
2 Jury/CA N.A. N.A. 01/22/2022 Can randomly selected citizens govern better than elected officials? VOX
3 Jury/CA Sub-Country Scotland 11/30/2021 Are citizens’ assemblies in Scotland “here to stay”? The Scottish Parliament
4 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, Prince Edward Island 11/15/2021 Citizens’ assembly welcome initiative Saltwire
5 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, Prince Edward Island 11/19/2021 Citizens' assembly to explore electoral reform on P.E.I. could be created in new year, premier says CBC News
6 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, Prince Edward Island 11/23/2021 P.E.I. — You may be called to serve. Are you ready? Saltwire
7 Jury/CA Sub-Country Scotland 11/23/2021 More citizens assemblies promised by Scottish Government The Herald
8 Jury/CA N.A. N.A. 11/24/2021 How Citizens' Councils with Direct Democracy can help Climate Policy get on its Feet Global Democracy News
9 ConCon Country Chile 10/19/2021 Chile begins drafting new constitution on 2nd anniversary of social uprising La Prensa
10 Jury/CA Supra-Country Global 10/26/2021 Global Citizens’ Assemblies: A Bold Idea That Needs Our Support! Forbes
11 Jury/CA Sub-Country Scotland 11/30/2021 Are citizens’ assemblies in Scotland “here to stay”? The Scottish Parliament
12 Jury/CA Sub-Country Scotland 11/23/2021 More citizens assemblies promised by Scottish Government The Herald
13 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, Prince Edward Island 10/30/2021 P.E.I. Legislature approves citizens' assembly to design electoral reform system CBC
14 Jury/CA Country Canada 09/27/2021 SOUND OFF: Let citizens’ assembly make the final decision on proportional representation CFJC Today
15 Jury/CA Country Germany 09/22/2021 Elections Alone Are Not Enough: Could Citizens’ Assemblies Save Democracy in Germany? Open Society Foundations
16 Jury/CA Country UK 09/17/2021 Launching the Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK The Constitution Unit Blog
17 Jury/CA Sub-Country UK, Newham 09/20/2021 Can giving power to the people rebuild trust in politics? The Big Issue

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18 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, British Columbia 09/10/2021 Who’s Still Promising Electoral Reform? Fair Voting BC Takes a Look The Tyee
19 Jury/CA N.A. N.A. 09/29/2021 Watch the Athens Democracy Forum 2021 below Athens Democracy Forum
20 Jury/CA Country Malaysia 08/17/2021 A better Malaysia Assembly, not just a new PM, please The Edge Marekts
21 Jury/CA Sub-Country UK, Newham 07/12/2021 Newham Council launches country's first permanent Citizens’ Assembly Public Sector Executive

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22 Jury/CA N.A. N.A. 07/08/2021 CAN CITIZENS' ASSEMBLIES RESET DEMOCRACY? OZY

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23 Jury/CA Country UK, Newham 03/19/2021 Newham “radically overhauls democracy” with UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly Time 107.5 FM

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24 Jury/CA Sub-Country Scotland 06/14/2021 Permanent citizens' assembly needed to 'embed real people power in Scottish politics' The Scotsman
25 ConCon Country Chile 05/06/2021 Chile’s Constitutional Rewrite: A Difficult Path Ahead, but a Recipe for Inclusion Council of Foreign Relations
26 Jury/CA Sub-Country UK, Wales 05/09/2021 Drakeford demands more powers for Cardiff parliament Financial Times
27 Jury/CA Supra-Country European Union 04/01/2021 Guidelines for EU Citizens’ Assemblies Citizens Take Over

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28 Jury/CA Sub-Country UK, Scotland 01/13/2021 The Report of the Citizens' Assembly of Scotland Citizens' Assembly of Scotland
29 ConCon Country Chile 02/02/2022 Chile Constitutional Convention: Citizens vote on proposed initiatives Al Jazeera
30 ConCon Country Chile 01/31/2022 Neoliberalism was born in Chile. Now it will die there openDemocracy
31 ConCon Country Chile 02/01/2022 Chile Constitutional convention votes to nationalise mining Mining Journal
32 Jury/CA Sub-Country Ireland, Dublin 02/07/2022 Citizens’ assembly set to examine possibility of directly elected mayor for Dublin The Irish Times
33 Jury/CA Sub-Country Canada, Prince Edward Island 02/11/2022 Citizens assembly is ground-breaking step forward for P.E.I. democracy Saltwire
34 Jury/CA Country Ireland 11/16/2021 We may have overdone it on citizens’ assemblies Irish Times
35 ConCon Country Chile 02/18/2022 Chile’s Constitutional Convention Advances to the Plenary Havana Times
36 ConCon Country Chile 02/16/2022 Chile's Constitutional Convention To Run First Plenary Session teleSUR
37 ConCon Country Chile 02/15/2022 Constitutional assembly members start debate of new Constitution in Santiago Denver Gazette
38 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/19/2022 Program honoring 50th Anniversary of 1972 Constitutional Convention to be held Wednesday Great Falls Tribune

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39 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/18/2022
Celebration of 50th Anniversary of Montana's Constitution announced		 Havre Daily News

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40 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/21/2022 Sidney to host one of nine 50th anniversary celebrations for the Montana constittion Sidney Herald

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41 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/24/2022 Delegates to Montana Constitutional Convention participate in 50th Anniversary celebration Great Falls Tribune [I]t was determined that no current elected officials in the state could participate in the convention.... the event will be posted in full at greatfallsrisingmt.org.
42 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/22/2022 50 years later, the ‘Con-Con’ still a model for today Daily Montanan
43 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 02/24/2022 Remembering Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention KRTV
44 ConCon Country Chile 02/26/2022 Chile’s overwhelmed constitution writers are facing a backlash Leader-Telegram
45 ConCon Country Chile 03/02/2022 The Dangerous Hubris of Chile’s Constitutional Convention Americas Quarterly
46 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 03/15/2022 MSU, Montana Free Press to mark constitutional convention's 50th anniversary with event next week Bozeman Daily Chronicle *The Montana Supreme Court decided in 1971 that legislators and other elected officials could not run to be a delegate. That opened the door to a slew of people who had never run for office before, including 19 women.
47 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 03/13/2022 Guest opinion: Montana’s 1972 Constitution celebration noted with columns Billings Gazette *Their new Constitution, often recognized as the best state Constitution in the nation...
48 ConCon Sub-Country Montana 03/10/2022 Commentary: Montana’s last, best document Daily Montanan Montana isn’t just the last best place, but it’s protected by the last, best Constitution.
49 ConCon Country Chile 03/09/2022 Chile Radicals Get a Warning to Tone Down Constitution Proposals Bloomberg Quint
50 Jury/CA N.A. Cambridge, Massachusetts 03/28/2022 Harvard Undergraduates Will Vote on a New Student Government Constitution This Week. Here’s What You Need to Know Harvard Crimson
Topic Scope Location Date Article Link Publication Note

 Past Compilations by J.H. Snider

Primarily for his own personal use in recent years, J.H. Snider has been compiling information on miscellaneous constitutional conventions and citizens’ assemblies since the early 2000s. For example, from 2016 to 2021 he maintained the LinkedIn Group, The Constitutional Convention and Citizens’ Assembly Clearinghouse.

This LinkedIn group replaced an earlier Facebook group,  Constitutional Convention and Citizens Assembly Based Democratic Reform Facebook Group (2012-2015) and previous Facebook group with the same title (2009-2012).  Both were mysteriously deleted by Facebook without any notice, subsequent explanation, or means of contacting Facebook, which led to the switchover to LinkedIn. Equally mysteriously, Facebook reposted and combined both Facebook groups years later–again, without any notice or explanation. Perhaps someone responded to Snider’s numerous emails to Facebook that never received a reply. However, all the members of the first and much larger Facebook group were lost, and Snider gave up on recreating that membership.

The Facebook 2009-2012 Facebook group replaced the Citizens Assembly News Digest, a newsletter sent via e-mail to scholars and practitioners.

The Citizens Assembly News Digest, in turn, replaced the Citizens Assembly Blog, which during 2006 and 2007 covered citizen assemblies on electoral reform in British Columbia, Canada; Ontario, Canada; and the Netherlands.

The Citizens Assembly Blog, in turn, replaced an email listserv covering a bipartisan California Senate prospective and then later formal bill for a California citizens assembly co-sponsored by two California state senators. When that bill was defeated, the focus switched to passing an innovative redistricting proposal based on a partially randomly selected redistricting commission, which voters passed via a constitutional initiative. The email listserv stopped when the bill in California’s Legislature was defeated.

Early versions of J.H. Snider’s thinking on related issues can be found at: Snider, J. H. (1994). “Democracy On-Line.” The Futurist 28: 15-19; Snider, J. H. (2006). “Solving a Classic Dilemma of Democratic Politics: Who Will Guard the Guardians?” National Civic Review(Winter); and  Snider, J. H. (2007). From Dahl to O’Leary: 36 Years of the “Yale School of Democratic Reform”. Journal of Deliberative Democracy, 3(1).