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MAKING PARTICIPATION LEGAL: BUILDING A STRONGER INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Matt Leighninger
UNH Law School Forum
March 25, 2014
THE CONTEXT FOR ENGAGEMENT: HOW HAVE CITIZENS* CHANGED?
More educated
More skeptical – different attitudes toward authority
Have less time to spare
Better able to find resources, allies, information (Internet)
* 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
Available free for download at BIT.LY/IWJGQN
THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE
Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012
“What drove me to try planned, structured public engagement was my awful experience with unplanned, unstructured public engagement.”
─ John Nalbandian, former mayor, Lawrence, KS
TREATING CITIZENS LIKE ADULTS
Give them: Information Chance to tell their story Choices Legitimacy Chances to
take action Good process Food and fun!
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
Administrative Procedure Act (APA 1946)
Freedom of Information Act & Sunshine Act (1966)
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA 1972)
Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (ADRA 1996)
Negotiated Rulemaking Act (NRA 1996)
E-Government Act (2002)
“Public participation” used over 200 times in the U.S. Code, over 1,000 times in Code of Federal Regulations – and rarely defined
HOW WE GOT HERE: THE FEDERAL FRAMEWORK
Parallel to federal models
Model State Administrative Procedure Act (1961, 1980, 2010)
Freedom of Information Acts
Government in the Sunshine Acts
Some agency dispute resolution laws and/or negotiated rulemaking laws
Home Rule Acts generally silent on public participation
HOW WE GOT HERE: THE STATE FRAMEWORKS
“Public participation” mandated but generally not defined; APA silent on upstream uses
No broad-based authority or mandate for deliberative democracy or participatory democracy
Sunshine laws & agenda constraints
Limits on creative thinking about dialogue among electeds and public
GAPS IN AUTHORITY
WORKING GROUP ON LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
Broad and non-exclusive definition of public participation
Built into the phrase “public participation” so it hits every specific authorization for PP in a State Code
No mandates – model is ADR
Agency policies
Public Participation Specialists
Decision to use particular process insulated from judicial review
Provision for “Public Participation Meetings” so electeds and the public can deliberate outside the box
STATE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ACT
Similar structure
Again, no mandates
Principles for successful public participation
Possible use of commission or other agency at local government level
No reference to changing sunshine laws as usually a matter for state legislature
Best use: to start a discussion about how you want participation to work in your municipality
LOCAL PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ORDINANCE
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?
Participation commissions or advisory boards can:
Develop multi-year participation plans
Develop guidelines on when/how participation should happen
Assess and evaluation current participation efforts
Provide annual report to council on status of participation
Help strengthen networks for recruitment
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: PARTICIPATION COMMISSIONS
AND ADVISORY BOARDS
Stronger networks, online and off, for recruitment and dissemination of information
Better use of social media to raise interest, discussion before and between meetings
Clear avenues for public to present ideas for the agenda
At the meeting (or as a pre-meeting), a format featuring small-group discussions
Proposed guideline: Electeds cannot vote, act, or make decisions until information from meeting is made public
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: BETTER FORMATS FOR PUBLIC
MEETINGS
Larger assumption to discuss: What is government’s role in supporting participation?
One office – or participation skills distributed throughout departments?
Training opportunities
Need for principles, protocols, and metrics to guide the work
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: PARTICIPATION STAFFING IN CITY
HALL
WHY SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT?
Increases in: Trust Efficiency Equity Connectedness…which increases: Economic growth Public health
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE
BUILDING BLOCK:
Helping neighborhood and school groupsbecome 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’
BUILDING BLOCK: CIVIC INDICATORS
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:PLANNING FOR STRONGER LOCAL DEMOCRACY – BIT.LY/PSLDNLC USING ONLINE TOOLS TO ENGAGE THE PUBLIC– BIT.LY/IWJGQNMAKING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION LEGAL – BIT.LY/1F2MGAP
RESOURCES
www.icma.org
www.participedia.net
www.deliberative-democracy.net
www.everydaydemocracy.org
www.publicagenda.org
www.kettering.org
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
