CONCEPT
Diffusion Mechanism
The process through which successful participatory institutions spread — not through coordinated political campaigns but through demonstration effects that generate demand for replication in other contexts.
The diffusion mechanism is Fung's theory of how successful participatory institutions spread from initial implementation to broader adoption. Unlike the conventional model of policy diffusion through political mobilization and coordinated campaigns, participatory governance institutions diffuse primarily through demonstration effects. Small-scale experiments produce documented outcomes compelling enough to generate demand for replication in other contexts. Participatory budgeting spread from Porto Alegre to hundreds of cities because the original experiment's success created demand that political entrepreneurs in other contexts could mobilize. Citizens' assemblies spread from British Columbia to Ireland to France through the same mechanism. Each successful implementation made the next one easier by providing evidence skeptics could evaluate and advocates could cite.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The mechanism has specific implications for institutional change strategy in AI governance. The conventional approach — comprehensive national or international legislation — faces political barriers that typically delay implementation for years or decades. The diffusion approach begins at the level where political will is most accessible and institutional barriers