Should a citizens' assembly complement the European Parliament?

In this GLOBALCIT forum debate, Kalypso Nicolaidis proposes a plan to create a European Citizens' Assembly (ECA) with some major innovative features: the assembly should be permanent with rotating membership rather than devoted to a single issue for a limited period of time; it should be itinerant rather than located in Brussels, Strasbourg or Luxembourg; and it should have agenda-setting powers for the European Parliament that go beyond the consultative role of most national-level citizens' assemblies. In her opening essay, Nicolaidis elaborates and defends these and several other construction principles for an ECA. 19 responses by 23 authors engage critically with Nicolaidis' ideas and discuss the general merits and limitations of citizens' assemblies selected by lot. The collection concludes with a rejoinder by Nicolaidis, in which she does not so much attempt to rebut objections as to further develop her proposal in the light of arguments advanced in the debate.