EXPLORING PARTICIPATION

Why is this important

• Those who have less resources are underrepresented in political decision making.
  
  

• This is because of a cycle that that people think  politics doesn't affect or have any influence on their lives and therefore they don't turn out to vote/get involved in Politics. Then politicians/policy makers don't consider peoples needs when making policy, and make policy that adversely affects peoples. This reinforces people’s views that politics isn't for them and therefore they move further away from wanting to engage.

• Exploring Participation believes that there is a way to break this cycle and change engagement. We don't have all the answers but think that we have to start now before people feel so disengaged that they cannot make a difference at all.

Lens

• Exploring Participation is focusing on the link between inequality in society and  inequality in political participation. We believe that whilst there are other activities that will create a more equal society, unless people are involved in decisions affecting their lives they won’t be able to move out of poverty.

Our approach

Exploring Participation is thinking radically about how to do challenge the cycle of under-representation and is putting participation at the center of our work.

Exploring

Conversations to understand challenges

We're proposing an extended public participation/consultation engagement process involving a wide range of stakeholders and people who are struggling to engage. If this is about creating a new model of engagement then it needs to start from that basis of involving people in understanding the problem and the possible solution.

Some specific questions  we will look are

• What do people see as the main challenges of political engagement

• What is happening already, in Scotland, the UK and more globally

• Where is there good practice

Prototyping

Testing new models to find solutions

We want to try to think radically about how to do this and where this could come from.  If this is about creating a new model of engagement then it needs to start from that basis of involving people in understanding the problem and the possible solution. We will be running lots of mini prototypes to model new methods of engagement.

Some specific questions we will look at

• What can be done that is accessible to all

• What can be done at a low cost

• Is it possible to scale these prototypes

Evolving

How does an organisation practice this

This possibly ends in setting up an organisation that champions and furthers good participation and shifts the way that people are involved and engaged in decisions that affect their lives. However at this stage, we're not sure what this looks like it could be think/do tank, a consultancy organisation, an advocacy organisation.

Some of the key questions we're thinking about are 

• If we were to bring a team together to try and tackle this, who would that be

• If we were to set up an organisation to tackle this, what would that organisation look like

• Can an organisation to do this be self sustaining