What is the background of the Jefferson Center?
The principal work of the Jefferson Center has been the development of the Citizens Jury process and the promotion of its use in a variety of settings. The Center was set up in 1974 by Ned Crosby (a political scientist from the University of Minnesota). Since then 31 Citizens Juries have been conducted in the United States. Those projects have aimed at empowering citizens to provide in-depth policy evaluations and recommendations on timely and important issues to decision-makers, through utilizing quality deliberative methods. The projects have ranged from national level policy like reviewing the Clinton Healthcare plan, the federal budget and the EPA’s action on climate change, to more local issues like farming practices or pre-school education.
