Page 122 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

120 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) What simple characteristics will lead to most people seeing someone like them involved? The demographic filters that are included are important. The above simple filters are recommended to achieve broad descriptive representation. This is because other types of representation are taken into consideration through the design process so that strictly who is or is not in the room as a participant is not the limit of representation. You should think about what your community looks like. Beyond the simple filters, will there be anyone who would not be in the room? How do people identify themselves in your community? E.g. in cities this can be commercial and residential taxpayers. In regional areas this might be earning your income from agricultural or not. It is important to balance both descriptive representation and minority representation. With a group of 30 people, it is likely that minority voices will be small (much like they are in the wider community). You may choose to remedy this by increasing their stratification quota, which would change the way the room descriptively represents the community. You might also overemphasise their role in the wider community engagement that occurs outside of the deliberative process. It is ok to specifically run a separate process to get their view in the room – you just need to be sure to do it in a transparent way. Another way of including minority voices and experiences in the deliberative process is to include them as information sources from the outset (as presenters or by answering questions). This ensures they have a presence in the room, without playing a role in shaping the group in a desired way. The less ‘shaping’ or modification of the stratification the better. People are rightly cynical of any attempts to adjust, steer or exert influence over a process.