Participatory Policy-Making Toolkit

This toolkit uses the umbrella term “participatory democracy” to refer to processes that put real decision-making power in community hands, such as ballot initiatives, policy juries or assemblies, and participatory policy-making.

Details

This toolkit provides an overview of participatory democracy practices focused on policy-making, shares the results of a participatory policy-making (PPM) process focused on safety in four co-located Brooklyn schools, and offers guidance for organizers, activists, and advocates to work with elected representatives to bring PPM to their communities. We believe that participatory democracy practices are essential pathways to co-governance: the sharing of power by a governing entity with community members or community organizations.