Civic Engagement Today - Strengths, Limits, Opportunities

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT TODAY:

STRENGTHS, LIMITS, OPPORTUNITIES

Matt Leighninger

Presentation to the San Diego Foundation

January 16, 2013

THE DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY CONSORTIUM

THE CONTEXT:

HOW HAVE CITIZENS* CHANGED?

More educated

More skeptical – different attitudes toward authority

Have less time to spare

Better able to find resources, allies, information

* “citizens” = residents, people

THE CONTEXT:

FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

Have the most at stake in community success

More motivation to engage, but even less time

Want to engage in community, not just politics

THE CONTEXT: INCREASED USE OF THE INTERNET

THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE

Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012

SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: PROACTIVE RECRUITMENT

Map community networks;

Involve leaders of those networks;

„Who is least

likely to

participate?‟

Use online as

well as f2f

connections;

Follow up!

SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: SMALL-GROUP PROCESSES

No more than 12 people per group;

Facilitator who is impartial (doesn‟t give

opinions);

Start with people

describing their

experiences;

Lay out options;

Help people plan

for action.

SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: FRAMING AN ISSUE

Give people the information they need, in ways

they can use it

Lays out several options or views (including

ones you don‟t agree with)

Trust them

to make good

decisions

SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ENCOURAGING CITIZEN ACTION

SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ONLINE TOOLS

Particularly good for:

Providing background information

Data gathering by citizens

Generating and

ranking ideas

Helping people

visualize options

Maintaining

connections

over time

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

STRENGTHS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Making policy decisions, plans, budgets

Catalyzing citizen action

Building trust, fostering new leadership

Connections = disaster preparedness

Attachment = economic vitality

LIMITATIONS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (AS

WE PRACTICE IT TODAY)

Lots of work for temporary gain

Inefficient – every organization on its own

Community moves back to „politics as usual‟

„Engagers‟ set the agenda, not the „engaged‟

Limited impact on equity

Laws on participation out

of step with practices

Not well measured or

benchmarked

WHAT IS CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE?

The regular opportunities, activities,

and arenas that allow people to

connect with each other, solve

problems, make decisions, and be

part of a community.

“PORTSMOUTH LISTENS”

PORTSMOUTH, NH

Ongoing process since 2000

Several hundred participants each time

Addressed a number of major policy

decisions: bullying in schools, school

redistricting, city‟s master plan, balancing city

budget, whether to build new middle school

JANE ADDAMS SCHOOL FOR DEMOCRACY

WEST SIDE OF ST. PAUL, MN

50-200 people in “neighborhood learning circles” every month since 1998

Involves recent Hmong, Latino, Somali immigrants

Young people involved in circles and other activities

Cultural exchanges - food, crafts, storytelling

Has resulted in new

projects, initiatives,

festivals, and change

in INS policy

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN BRAZILIAN CITIES

Commitment from gov‟t to adopt budget;

Wide range of ways to be involved;

A carnival

atmosphere;

Started small,

now huge –

60,000+ people

NEW MODEL ORDINANCE ON PUBLIC

PARTICIPATION

Available at www.deliberative-democracy.net

Developed as a collaboration of:

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE

BUILDING BLOCK:

Helping

neighborhood and

school groups

become more

- effective

- inclusive

- participatory

BUILDING BLOCK: HYPERLOCAL ONLINE

FORUMS

More sustained

Larger, more diverse numbers of people

Easier for „engagers‟ – recruitment doesn‟t have to start from scratch

More open to ideas from the „engaged‟

DIGITAL DIVIDES (PLURAL)

Overall, Internet access growing

“Access” – to Internet, to government – has never been enough

Different people use different hardware

Different people go to different places on the Internet

Communities just as complex online as off –recruitment must be proactive

BUILDING BLOCK: CIVIC INDICATORS

1. Capture more of the basic data

2. Use databases

3. Establish „mid-level‟ indicators to connect basic data with „metadata‟ like Soul of the Community

4. Be transparent – and think about ways to allow people to contribute and analyze data

BUILDING BLOCK: YOUTH LEADERSHIP

“Sometimes you need a meeting that

is also a party. Sometimes you need

a party that is also a meeting.”

─ Gloria Rubio-Cortès, National

Civic League

DON‟T FORGET: FUN

SLIDES AVAILABLE AT:

WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/MATTLEIGHNINGER

GUIDES:

HTTP://BIT.LY/PSLDNLC

HTTP://BIT.LY/IWJGQN

RESOURCES

www.participedia.net

www.deliberative-democracy.net

www.soulofthecommunity.org

www.everydaydemocracy.org

www.publicagenda.org

www.kettering.org

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?