Page 110 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

108 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) Step 2: Time How much time does the community need? Time is going to be the factor that most shapes what type of process you use to involve the community in public decisions. Put simply, if you do not have much time, you should opt for a short turn- around survey or online engagement that gives you as much useful information as possible within the timeframe. With a little more time, you should make use of a wider community engagement model, where you can produce a booklet that shares the problem and seeks community feedback on possible options and priorities. With even more time, you can look to longer form deliberations that involve everyday members of the community over a few months. Most policy problems that warrant the investment in a jury will be complex topics, so we need to allow people the time to educate and immerse themselves in the topic. Each of the above options can be combined (into a sequence or a funnel). The main limiting factor here is that running many linked processes obviously comes with added costs. How many days? Typically, deliberative processes take around six months to deliver the project from beginning to end – as a guide, start from the idea that citizens need at least 40 hours in person, meeting four to six times to meaningfully deliberate and find common ground without feeling pushed toward a pre-ordained outcome. Some topics will be less complex than others, making them more suitable to shorter lengths of deliberation. Complexity can be managed by altering the remit.