Methods of engaging citizens that combine direct participation with in-depth dialogue on urgent public policy issues are gaining recognition at all levels of governance in many countries around the world. Various democratic innovations are developing rapidly and gaining popularity, with citizen panels emerging as a key approach. By engaging small, yet highly representative, groups of randomly selected citizens, these panels create forums for debate based on reliable data and evidence. The success of such panels to date demonstrates that they can play a much greater role in decision-making processes than just one-off experiments.