A citizen consensus council is a microcosm of a larger population where citizens dialogue to deep agreement about issues of common concern. A citizen consensus council deliberates about issues concerning the population from which it was selected, and is professionally facilitated to a consensus about how to address those issues. Its final statement is released both to appropriate authorities and to the larger population it represents, usually through the media. After that, the council usually disbands, just as a jury does when its work is done. It is facilitated to a consensus .
Wisdom depends on the breadth and depth of people's perspectives.
The depth comes from people having to go deeper in order to find the common ground underlying their differences, which is necessary to come to agreement. Also, through dialogue towards consensus, each person's perspective broadens, steadily including more of what the others see. Furthermore, since it is so broadly satisfying, and was created by a diverse group embodying the diverse values and life experience of the larger community, the larger population is more likely to respond positively to the group's proposals than to proposals created by experts or politicians. Participants are not speaking for anyone but themselves. If they do happen to be leaders of groups, they need to set those roles aside and act as individuals while participating in the council.