'It gave me hope in democracy': how French citizens are embracing people power

Towns, cities and regions around France are turning to assemblies of unelected citizens to guide them on everything from climate to coronavirus

Angela Brito was driving back to her home in the Parisian suburb of Seine-et-Marne one day in September 2019 when the phone rang. The 47-year-old caregiver, accustomed to emergency calls, pulled over in her old Renault Megane to answer. The voice on the other end of the line informed her she had been randomly selected to take part in a French citizens' convention on climate. Would she, the caller asked, be interested?

I thought it was a real prank," says Brito, a single mother of four who was born in the south of Portugal. I'd never heard anything about it before. But I said yes, without asking any details. I didn't believe it.'"