SUSTAINING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN GOVERNANCE:THEORY, LAW, AND PRACTICE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Lisa Blomgren Amsler, Indiana University, moderator

Terry Amsler, Institute for Local Government

Maria Hadden, Participatory Budgeting Project

Matt Leighninger, Deliberative Democracy Consortium

THICK PARTICIPATION: Informed, deliberative, emotional, full of choices for groups to make

THIN PARTICIPATION: Fast, easy, full of choices for individuals to make

TREATING CITIZENS LIKE ADULTS

Give them:

Information

Chance to tell

their story

Choices

Legitimacy

Chances to

take action

Good process

Food and fun!

THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE

Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012

The status quo and default structure

No discussion outside the agenda

Oriented to getting comments in the record

Easy to disrupt

Even the physical layout makes people angry

THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE

STRENGTHS OF OCCASIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Making policy decisions, plans, budgets Catalyzing

citizen action Rebuilding

trust, fostering new leadership

LIMITATIONS OF OCCASIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Lots of work for temporary gain Inefficient – every organization on its own Community moves back to ‘politics as usual’

WHY SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT?

Increases in:

Trust

Efficiency

Equity

Connectedness

…which increases:

Economic growth

Public health

Lower corruption

Lower inequality

Lower infant mortality

Higher trust in gov’t

Higher tax compliance

Higher completion rates for gov’t projects

Officials more likely to be reelected

LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF ENGAGEMENT IN

BRAZIL

Wampler and Touchton 2014, Peixoto 2014, Spada 2012

To belong

To have an impact

To have a legitimate voice

Those desires show up in thick and thin engagement…and sometimes thick and or thin helps people achieve them

WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?