Page 129 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

Step 8: Final output How can you get useable recommendations? Thinking about the type of answer you need informs Step 1 (Remit) but it will impact what kind of output you receive. The final recommendation report should be written entirely by the citizen participants and un-edited by anyone (this includes the facilitation team, the oversight team or government staff ). The unedited form of the report lends significant authenticity to the final document, which increases its popular legitimacy as a product of everyday people (compared to polished consultant documents for example). It is okay if it is a bit rough – this shows its authenticity. There many different ways in which this report can be completed (there are ‘get started’ templates included in this handbook). What is important is that participants are given the opportunity to start writing from a blank page. This freedom gives them assurance that they can say whatever they would like, contributing to their autonomy in the process. When writing recommendations, a good framework to have in mind is that participants (topic depending) should aim to give recommendations on what to do but not how to do it specifically. The guiding principle here is clarity of intent. Rigid recommendations can become counter intuitive in flexible policy spaces that can sometimes produce consequences that are inconsistent with the principles or values that inform why a group made a specific recommendation. By allowing government the flexibility to use whatever tools they have to address a recommendation, the participants can focus on clarity of their intent while ensuring this intent can be implemented in future, changing environments. Specific report writing activities, guides and prompts are available in Chapter 5. 127