The Ostbelgien Model: a permanent citizens' council (Belgium)
Most citizens’ assemblies are one-off events. In 2019, the German-speaking Community of Belgium — “Ostbelgien,” a region of about 77,000 people — did something more durable: it created the world’s first permanent citizens’ body chosen by lot, wired directly into its parliament.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”| Process type | Permanent sortition body: a standing Citizens’ Council + ad-hoc Citizens’ Assemblies |
| When | Established 25 February 2019; ongoing |
| Where | Ostbelgien (German-speaking Community of Belgium), ~77,000 people |
| Convened by | The Parliament of the German-speaking Community (a unanimous, all-party vote) |
| Participants | A Citizens’ Council (Bürgerrat) of ~24 members drawn by lot; larger Citizens’ Assemblies it convenes |
| Powers | Sets the agenda; convenes assemblies; recommendations go to parliament, which must respond |
| Cost | Reported at roughly €32,000 (Council) plus ~€23,000 per Assembly |
What happened
Section titled “What happened”In February 2019 the regional parliament voted, unanimously, to institutionalise citizen deliberation. The design links two bodies: a standing Citizens’ Council (Bürgerrat) of around 24 people, drawn by lot for staggered terms, which decides which topics deserve attention; and the Citizens’ Assemblies (Bürgerversammlungen) it convenes to deliberate a given topic in depth and make recommendations.
Inputs → outputs
Section titled “Inputs → outputs”In: issues surfaced by citizens, the Council, parliament, or the public.
Out: recommendations from each Citizens’ Assembly to the regional parliament — which is obliged to take them up and respond publicly, in a documented follow-up process.
Impact
Section titled “Impact”The “Ostbelgien Model” became an international reference point: the first time sortition-based deliberation was made a permanent fixture of a parliamentary system rather than a special event. Several years on it continues to operate, and it has informed similar experiments elsewhere (including in Paris and Brussels).
How it went
Section titled “How it went”Its significance is structural: it answers the most common objection to citizens’ assemblies — that they’re temporary and easily ignored — by giving citizens a standing seat in agenda-setting with a guaranteed institutional response. Its powers remain modest (it advises; it doesn’t legislate) and its scale is tiny, but as a model it showed that permanent, institutionalised citizen power is workable. It’s the concrete example Hélène Landemore points to for testing open democracy at the local level.