# 3.1. Preliminary discussion
A first phase of participation may consist of a preliminary discussion. It is common to use this phase when the process begins and no initial text is yet available. It is useful for deciding issues around the main issues to be addressed, and thus steering the process in the most appropriate direction. At this stage, information is published about the regulation or plan that you want to start dealing with as well as any additional documentation that may be useful.
Then there are some questions about the main issues of the topic to be addressed, which users will be able to answer openly.
Users can answer the questions, debate with other people and vote on all the answers to identify the most interesting ones. CONSUL DEMOCRACY Use
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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.consuldemocracy.org/use_guide/3.-collaborative-legislation/3.1.-preliminary-discussion.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
