Decidim’s Functions and Features

Roadmap 2017/2018

Decidim [https://decidim.org] is a digital infrastructure for participatory democracy written on free software (Ruby on Rails), which enables the creation of citizen participation portals. Users of the platform (participants) interact through participatory mechanisms known as components which provide specific functions for the various participatory spaces. In other words, participatory spaces such as Initiatives, Assemblies, Processes and Consultations have components at their disposal which work together as participatory mechanisms. The more notable components include in-person meetings, surveys, proposals, votes, results monitoring and comments. For example, the various stages of a specific participatory process, such as the preparation of participatory budgets, can incorporate various components to: convene and capture the results of in-person meetings with citizens, conduct a survey, make proposals and, during the final stages of the process, hold a vote to decide on the projects with a budget expenditure system (always after a period for commentary and debate), conduct an assessment survey and, finally, monitor the implementation of the projects selected.

This document is part of the Decidim documentation.

Metadata

Title	Decidim’s Functions and Features
Subtitle	Roadmap 2017/2018
Version	1.0
Editors	Xabier E. Barandiaran, Carolina Romero
Authors	Xabier E. Barandiaran, Carolina Romero
Contributors	Asier Amezaga, Andrés Pereira de Lucena
Proofreaders	Andrés Pereira de Lucena, Marta Almela, Juan Linares
Participants	Josan Minguela, Joana Guijarro
Summary	Decidim [https://decidim.org] is a digital infrastructure for participatory democracy written on free software (Ruby on Rails), which enables the creation of citizen participation portals. Users of the platform (participants) interact through participatory mechanisms known as components which provide specific functions for the various participatory spaces. In other words, participatory spaces such as Initiatives, Assemblies, Processes and Consultations have components at their disposal which work together as participatory mechanisms. The more notable components include in-person meetings, surveys, proposals, votes, results monitoring and comments. For example, the various stages of a specific participatory process, such as the preparation of participatory budgets, can incorporate various components to: convene and capture the results of in-person meetings with citizens, conduct a survey, make proposals and, during the final stages of the process, hold a vote to decide on the projects with a budget expenditure system (always after a period for commentary and debate), conduct an assessment survey and, finally, monitor the implementation of the projects selected.
Keywords	Decidim, a democratic participatory platform, components, participatory spaces, software, e-democracy, participation, assemblyism, citizen participation, neighbourhood councils, citizen consultations, accountability, proposals, e-voting, transparency
How to cite	Barandiaran, X.E. & Romero, C. (2017) Decidim’s Functions and Features. v1.0.
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