Elected officials don’t always understand their communities. Can civic assemblies bridge the gap?

US cities are turning to randomly selected residents to help resolve divisive policy debatesA Los Angeles software engineer, Hunter Futo, recalled being “disaffected and apolitical” for years but experienced an about-face recently: now, she’s leading resident debates, helping guide local governance reforms and even pushing for more options for Angelenos to help create policy.For Futo, the turnaround happened in January, when she and a few other LA residents were randomly selected to lay out a vi...