civic engagement today - strengths, limits, opportunities
TRANSCRIPT
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT TODAY:
STRENGTHS, LIMITS, OPPORTUNITIES
Matt Leighninger
Presentation to the San Diego Foundation
January 16, 2013
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?