Hi Charlie, hi all, I can't add particular insights on the French case, though I have followed some English-language news coverage of it.
However, the French citizens' convention on climate is analogous to a number of initiatives that have been undertaken here in Ireland in recent years. Citizens' assemblies have been used here to deliberate on the legalisation of gay marriage and the removal of a constitutional ban on abortion, among other topics, both of which were recommended by such assemblies and subsequently passed by national referendum by considerable margins. The citizens' assembly that deliberated on the abortion topic also considered the topic of How the state can make Ireland a leader in tackling climate change <https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/how-the-state-can-make-ireland-a-leader-in-tackling-climate-change/> over two weekends in autumn 2017. I served as a member of the assembly's expert advisory group for this topic. As Bertrand noted, deliberative forums such as these have their strengths and weaknesses and nobody claims they are a panacea. The Irish case had similarly vehement critics, not least because, as in the French case, its recommendations on climate were surprisingly far-reaching. I recently completed a research project focused on lessons from Ireland's citizens' assembly on climate change. The project report is available here <http://www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/research/researchpublications/researchreports/research314.html>. We published articles in *Climatic Change <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-020-02707-4>* and *Environmental Communication <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17524032.2019.1708429>*, and also this op-ed in Climate Home News <https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/06/27/irelands-world-leading-citizens-climate-assembly-worked-didnt/> which gives a very short overview. As a self-respecting academic, I should of course have shared this with this list before now! I would be happy to discuss any of this bilaterally with anyone interested in finding out more. Best wishes, Diarmuid -- *Dr. Diarmuid Torney*Associate Professor School of Law and Government, Dublin City University Tel: +353 1 700 6468 | Skype: diarmuidtorney | Twitter: @diarmuidtorney <https://twitter.com/diarmuidtorney> | Website: diarmuidtorney.org <http://www.dcu.ie/dc669> *Recent publications:* *European Union External Environmental Policy: Rules, Regulation and Governance Beyond Borders* <http://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319609300> (Palgrave, 2018). Diarmuid Torney (2019). Environmental policy and European Union politics <http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1080>, *Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics*. Diarmuid Torney (2019), Climate laws in small European states: symbolic legislation and limits of diffusion in Ireland and Finland <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2019.1625159>, *Environmental Politics*, 28(6). Rüdiger K.W. Wurzel, Duncan Liefferink & Diarmuid Torney (2019), Pioneers, leaders and followers in multilevel and polycentric climate governance <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2019.1522033>, *Environmental Politics*, 28(1): 1–21. On Wed, 20 May 2020 at 03:46, Bertrand Guillaume <[email protected]> wrote: > > hi charlie, > in fact, the initiative has more to do with citizen-based deliberative > consensus conferences (as existing for long in technology assessment in > northern europe, for example) > so, with well-known pros and cons, but the account from the website you > mention is, at best, misleading > from france, > best, > > > > Le 20/05/2020 à 04:26, Charles Chester a écrit : > > Hi gep-eders, > > One of my students recently forwarded to me this article > <https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/04/rando-democracy-bites-france.php> > from > a conservative news outlet on France, climate change & deliberate (or > “random,” as the author puts it) democracy. To summarize the article: > Macron’s a moron for letting climate advocates usurp reasonable policies > with out-of-touch and unattainable goals.... > > I ran a quick look for analysis (academic or otherwise) of the situation, > but came up with not much. If anyone has any insights or literature on > this, I’d very much appreciate it. > > All best, > > Charlie Chester > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > New email address: [email protected] > GEP-guide.net <http://gep-guide.net> • BCI <http://batcon.org> • Y2Y > <http://Y2Y.net> • Brandeis > <http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/environmental/> • Fletcher > <https://sites.tufts.edu/cierp/> > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/1F169338-CBE3-421C-84C4-059C5CCB84BB%40gep-guide.net > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/1F169338-CBE3-421C-84C4-059C5CCB84BB%40gep-guide.net?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/ad41a529-8eec-4ce5-3aec-0f63791643c0%40utt.fr > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/ad41a529-8eec-4ce5-3aec-0f63791643c0%40utt.fr?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- * *Séanadh Ríomhphoist/Email Disclaimer* *Tá an ríomhphost seo agus aon chomhad a sheoltar leis faoi rún agus is lena úsáid ag an seolaí agus sin amháin é. 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