The People's Parliament

rdf:langString The People's Parliament

rdf:langString The People's Parliament was a Channel 4 programme in which 90-100 randomly selected citizens, sitting in a mockup of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, debated and voted on controversial issues. Each programme started with a motion that was then debated by a proposer and witnesses for each side, setting out the facts behind the issues and the arguments for and against the motion. Its parliamentary procedures were under the control of Lesley Riddoch who acted as its "Speaker". The participants hearing debate and voted on motions were called "Members of the People's Parliament" (MPPs) and selected to be representative of society. They made their own speeches, examined expert witnesses, and set up their own "Select committees". It was first broadcast at 7pm on 30 July 1994 with a programme that deliberated the motion that "Persistent young offenders between the ages of 12 and 14 should be locked up." The programme has been described as "an attempt to 're-empower' the disenfranchised electorate and explore the way in which a representative sample of people would respond to extended deliberation of difficult issues."