Welcome and “Who Governed the French Conventions?

Hélène Landemore, a professor of political science and a faculty fellow with Yale’s Institute for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), served on the governance committee of the 2023 French Citizens’ Convention on End-of-Life. She organized a conference on February 28, 2024 at ISPS on how to best govern such assemblies, convening expert researchers, practitioners, and citizen participants.
Following an introduction, the first session included a panel on “Who Governed the French Conventions?” moderated by Antonin Lacelle-Webster, postdoctoral associate with the Democratic Innovations Program at ISPS
• Sandrine Rui : “What Does Governing a Citizens’ Assembly Mean: Power and Contingency at the Citizens’ Convention on End of Life”
• Jean-Michel Fourniau on the Citizens Convention for Climate (CCC): “Political Mandate and Governance of a Citizens’ Assembly”
• Chloé Santoro: “Voting in a deliberative process: what, when, how to vote and who decides?”
• Hélène Landemore and Théophile Pénigaud: “The case for self-ruling citizens’ assemblies: Governance, Representation, and Citizen Leadership in the French Conventions.”
• Reaction by Claire Thoury and Nathalie Berriau