Page 26 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

24 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) Why do this? There are many and varied critics of elected politicians saying they are “lacking conviction” or the leadership skills to make hard decisions. We aren’t among them. 1There are many hard problems faced by leaders: While public opinion has always been a factor, social media has made this many times more difficult. We know ‘Government by Twitter’ is something everyone wants to avoid: this will show you how. 2 Non-participation by much of the community is the starting point for unrest and dissatisfaction – you may want to involve people, but cynicism holds people back. Demonstrating their ability to have a real connection to an informed decision and being genuinely heard in a process is essential to overcoming this. 3 Unequal power is a reality everywhere, and the ability of special interests and advocates to get a greater hearing will never be eliminated, so instead it should be counter-balanced with a mandated voice for everyday people from all backgrounds and life experiences. 4 Community can know more than government. While this is especially the case in developing countries, we hear examples of this everywhere. The bureaucracy can have a narrow perspective about ways to solve a public problem – and where underfunding or corruption are an issue this will be much worse. Especially for NGO-driven projects facing deployment issues, this can be a critical reason to consider the approaches here. 5 Corruption. The use of a Civic Lottery is very hard to cheat. Adding a new voice which is neither special interest, nor the bureaucracy nor an opaquely funded campaign adds a new ability for government to operate with transparency.