Citizen proposals
Overview of citizen proposals from the frontend
The proposals module is designed to collect citizen proposals that require a specific number of "supports" to be processed.
This module is the most complete for collecting proposals since it allows them to include images, documents, videos, areas and categories, and it also makes available to the proponent a "control panel" of the proposal that allows them to follow how it evolves, in addition to having resources and recommendations for a proposal to be successful.
Additionally, in each proposal, a "community of users" of the proposal is created to help improve its content, as well as to stimulate its dissemination to obtain more support.
Once the proposal is approved, functionalities are also included to track it through progress bars and milestones.
Permissions to participate in “Proposals” | |
create proposals | Registered users |
Support proposals | verified users |
- The default configuration means that when the necessary number of supports is reached, the proposals go to a vote, but it can be used to reach the required support, and it can be used for anything else (discussed in plenary session, studied, etc.)
- You can configure the number of necessary supports adapting it to your needs. Generally, a high number (such as 5% of the census) is used if reaching that number has important consequences (how to pass the proposal to a vote). If the consequences are of less substance (how should the proposal be studied by the technicians) a lower number of supports is usually requested.
- Some institutions do not need something specific to happen when reaching a certain number of supports, but want to collect proposals through this module -since it is the most complete- so they modify the code to hide that specific functionality (See good practices)
The main configurations of the proposals module are made through the administration interface, in the following sections:
Proposal
Settings global settings Proposal topics
Proposal dashboard
Administration> Proposal
Proposal overview within the admin interface
In this first section, we see all the proposals created by users in the "Proposals” section (which we should not confuse with the participatory budget projects that have their own section).
We see all the proposals listed, with their basic information and a search engine.
By clicking on the title of each proposal we can see more detailed information about it.
Next to each proposal, we see the "Select" button. The selected proposals will stop collecting support and will be displayed in the "Selected proposals" menu of the "Proposals" section that users see. It is the way to mark that a proposal has received sufficient support or has been selected for some other reason.
At the bottom of this information page, we find the Milestones section. This section is used to publish the evolution of the proposals that have been selected. A timeline will be published on the public page of the proposal with all the milestones.
By clicking on "Create a new milestone", the following information can be added: status (to categorize the proposals, for example: "studying the proposal, contracting, building the proposal, finished"; possible statuses can be defined in the link below), milestone description, milestone post date, images and documents to display in the milestone. The date and status or a description are the only required fields.
Administration >Proposal progress panel.
When creating a proposal, the author can access a progress panel that allows them to follow how it evolves, as well as have resources and recommendations to make their proposal successful. This menu has a first section "Resources and actions" to define the resources and recommendations, and a second section "Requested resources" where notifications will appear when a user requests a resource.
- Resources and actions.
The actions are recommendations that we will propose to the user so that his proposal is successful. Examples of these recommendations can be "Choose a suitable and eye-catching image for the proposal", "Explain the proposal in person to friends and family", "Prepare a social media outreach campaign", etc.
The resources are elements that are offered to users: by default elements of the platform itself (the possibility of carrying out surveys on the proposal, and an email and poster model with a certain design to make your proposal visible), but it can also consist of Issues that are provided by the administration of the platform (for example, recording a short video about the proposal, announcing the proposal on social networks, etc.).
Both can be configured to be offered only when the proposal reaches a certain number of supports. In this way, they can be offered in a staggered manner to a different number of users if the resource cannot be generalized to all.
Other factors can also be taken into account when activating them, such as whether the proposal is already published or is still in draft mode; or that it has been published for a minimum of days.
If we click on the "Create resource or action" button, it will show us a form where we can define the recommended resource or action.
In the case of resources, the form has a checkbox "Include a button in the resource to request the resource from the administrators". If this box is checked, the user will have to request the resource when it becomes available. Upon request, a notification will be activated in the following section "Resources requested".
- Resources requested.
When a user clicks on the "Request resource" button of one of the resources that include it, a notification will appear in this section. In this way, administrators will be able to manage the resource and contact the user. Subsequently, by clicking on the "Mark as resolved" button, the request will disappear from this list and will go to the "resolved resources" list
Administration> Global Settings>Global Settings
Number of supports in which a Proposal ceases to be editable | After this number of supports, the author of a Proposal will no longer be able to edit it |
Prefix for Proposal codes | This prefix will appear in Proposals before the creation date and your ID |
Number of supports needed to approve a Proposal | When a proposal reaches this number of supports, it will no longer be able to receive more and it is considered successful. |
Administration> Global Settings>Proposal Progress Dashboard
As we have seen, most of the functions of the proposal progress panel are configured in their own section, from this global configuration tab you can define the description of different aspects
Redpública - Perú redpublica.pe
UNDP Peru developed the “Redpública” project to build a citizen agenda through the “CONSUL DEMOCRACY proposals” module. The module was modified to remove the need to receive a certain number of supports.
Decide Madrid- Madrid decide.madrid.es
The Madrid City Council uses the module to search for proposals that obtain the support of 1% of the people (people over 16 years of age registered in Madrid; 28,564 supports) on the web. Those who get this support go to a citizen vote
Last modified 2mo ago