In 2018, Ireland used a Citizens' Assembly to resolve one of the most divisive issues in its political history: abortion rights. A group of 99 randomly selected citizens — representing the full diversity of Irish society — spent months listening to experts, deliberating, and reaching conclusions. Their recommendations went to a referendum. The country changed. Most people at the time treated it as a curiosity. An experiment. Something that worked once, in a small country, on a specific issue.
