The essentials
Jancovici's citizen assembly brings 150 random participants into active 2027 campaign deliberation through structured in-person and online engagement.
Jean-Marc Jancovici has launched a citizen assembly integrating randomly selected participants into the 2027 presidential campaign process. The initiative brings together 150 randomly selected citizens to deliberate on policy dilemmas, meeting at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in Paris.
The assembly has received support from a dozen public figures and operates through an online platform enabling broader public participation in debates. Funding totals three million euros, mostly from private donations.
Jancovici has clarified his role: he will not be a candidate and will not meet with presidential candidates until after the May 2027 vote. The assembly design deliberately differs from the 2019 citizen climate convention, representing a distinct approach to integrating deliberative democracy into electoral politics during an active campaign cycle.
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Deliberative democracy integration tests new electoral participation framework
The citizen assembly represents institutional experimentation with participatory governance during an active election. 150 randomly selected citizens deliberating on policy dilemmas creates a novel structure where representative sampling shapes campaign discourse. Online platform participation extends deliberation beyond Paris meetings, scaling citizen engagement. This model tests whether structured deliberation can influence candidate positioning and voter priorities during the presidential race.
Initiative positions civil society input as distinct from candidate competition
Jancovici's assembly deliberately operates outside candidate frameworks—he explicitly excludes himself from candidacy and postpones candidate meetings until after voting. Support from a dozen public figures creates institutional legitimacy while maintaining autonomy from competing campaigns. Three million euros in private funding ensures financial independence. This positioning allows the initiative to frame citizen deliberation as separated from electoral competition itself.