Page 98 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

This table compares design decisions for a long-term project. It shouldn’t be read as a list of either/or decisions that you must make. Instead, it highlights the challenges or risks associated with each choice. Design Choices Trade-Offs Participant Selection Self- Selection Advantages: More participation, more voice for advocates, less likely that advocates run against process Disadvantages: Process populated with loud voices, unrepresentative of affected people, ‘usual voices’ that are often already involved in other processes Lottery Advantages: Easier to involve a mix of people from all across the community, includes unorganized voices/perspectives and those that are not normally involved in engagement, deliberation is often easier among the less intensely interested Disadvantages: Lower participation, higher chances that excluded advocates will run against the process if not engaged in another way 96 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF)