Transitional Design

The group developed a collective identity around being representatives of underserved communities, but the internal diversity of the group still allowed for constructive, transformative discussion (rather than defaulting to groupthink).

“enclave deliberation,” is to have disadvantaged groups make sense of their situations in a more homogeneous and power-balanced setting. Especially in the face of political institutions that consistently disenfranchise lower socioeconomic classes, talking together about their experiences can help these groups develop a language for articulating... See more

testimony is often embraced as a legitimate and meaningful contribution to deliberations. This is not to say that people with less are less capable of producing rational arguments, but rather to acknowledge that emotional appeals and the relation of lived experiences are crucial parts of argumentation.

Storytelling and emotional appeals are frequently encouraged as a way to communicate in deliberative settings, given that they are common ways for people to communicate and therefore level the playing field.

Beyond sortition, a savvy practitioner might consider ways to more actively bring in people who are socially disadvantaged. These strategies include minimizing barriers to participation, recruiting through trusted messengers, and partnering with associations in the community. Best practices for more involved deliberative processes often include... See more

They also facilitated regional enclave discussions (as described in the “Facilitation” section below) ahead of the deliberation to identify feasible policy strategies and co-design the questions that the deliberative poll would ask of the public.

RepresentationOne of the most crucial elements of a deliberative process is a deceptively simple question: Who’s in the room?