Page 15 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

We’ll start with the first step of thinking about selecting a politically tough decision which is well suited to these types of approach (and those which aren’t!), then cover everything from things organisers must consider when designing the varying aspects of a project, right through to explanations of in-the-room facilitation materials and techniques to reach group decisions. This Handbook details all of the critical aspects of practical project design and delivery. Each aspect will slightly vary from project to project: unlike an election which is fairly standardised and repeatable regardless of size or population and local context, these projects are designed to match the depth and complexity of the decision involved. For this reason, it is important that organisers have a working understanding of the principles behind each individual aspect. If you accept and agree with the principles, then the specifics, variations and inclusions in differing contexts become easy to apply. While the principles seem very obvious, very few government engagements anywhere in the world apply any of them today. 13