Local Government Programming In-service

October 22 & 23, 2014Deliberative Governance:Civil Discourse and Public Engagement

Presented by Bill RizzoProfessor & Local Government Specialist

UWEX Local Government Center

Toward More Deliberative Local Government:

A Theory of Change To be democratic, local government must be

representative.   To be representative, local government must be

well-informed.

To be well-informed, local government must be deliberative.

To be deliberative, local government must be collaborative.

To be collaborative, the governance environment must be civil.

What is ‘deliberative governance?’

Deliberative governance is a set of three topics dealing with how communities make decisions,

address local issues, meet local needs, and solve local problems. It is, therefore, not just a core local

government topic but a core community development topic.

 

Three Topics

1. Civility and Civil Discourse

2. Public Engagement

3. Deliberative Process

Civility

Tolerance

Respectful Interaction

Listening

Compromise

Civil DialogueCivility – Tolerance, Respectful Interaction, Listening, Compromise

Dialogue – An exchange of ideas and opinions. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Civil Dialogue – A respectful exchange of views during which participants listen to better understand others’ perspectives and seek solutions through compromise and the pursuit of common ground.

Civility is not a new idea in government.

Absent a civil environment, effective public engagement is virtually impossible.

The public is frustrated with the lack of civility in government.

Civility is intentional; a civil governance environment can be built and sustained.

Public Engagement…

…what local officials do to find out what their constituents think, feel, believe, and value…what concerns them…relative to a local issue, problem or decision.

Purposes of Public Participation

(IAP2) To inform the public;

To consult the public;

To involve the public;

To collaborate with the public;

To empower the public

Public Engagement Principles

(IAP2) Those affected by a decision are

involved in the decision-making process.

The public's contribution will influence the decision.

Decision-makers communicate to participants how their input affected the decision.

Recognizes and communicates the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.  

Public Engagement Challenges in Local

Government Differing views of representative democracy;

Local government culture, process, and history;

Public attitudes toward involvement;

The politicization of government

Deliberative Engagement

Engagement activities in which the public collaborates with local officials to define an issue and generate solution and policy ideas to address it.

Two-step process:1. Issue Naming & Framing2. Public Deliberation

Issue Naming & Framing

Issue Naming - What is the problem we need to talk about?

Issue Framing - What are the critical options and drawbacks are for deciding what to do about that problem?

Done through a representative team of citizens;

Involves learning about the issue and how citizens feel about it?

Addresses three questions: What concerns you about this issue? Given those concerns, what would you or

others do about it? If that worked to ease your concern, what are

the downsides or trade-offs we might then have to accept?

 Produces an Issue Guide for public deliberation step.

When to Name & Frame an Issue

With “wicked” problems;

Contentious issue;

When an issue affects most or all of a community;

Issue keeps coming back…eludes resolution;

Do NOT use with routine issues or issues that can be resolved using education, technology, or technical information.

Public Deliberation Facilitated, structured public events

where a representative collection of citizens meet to talk about and evaluate each alternative generated by a Naming & Framing team. Three questions are addressed:

What actions should be taken to implement this alternative?

What are the advantages of this alternative?

What are the tradeoffs of this alternative?

May produce preferred alternative/recommendation.

Provides local officials with good information to support decision-making;

Build a community’s ‘deliberative capacity:’

Promotes sustainable decisions;

Helpful for addressing difficult, stubborn issues.

Intended Outcomes & Impacts

(the “so what” question) Increase community problem-solving capacity;

Minimize transaction & opportunity costs;

Change the culture & cycle of disengagement;

Produce more supportable, sustainable policies;

Audience Wants and Needs When and how to engage;

Tools and strategies for engagement planning and implementation

Reducing or intervening in conflict associated with uncivil or disruptive behavior by citizens and officials;

How to increase citizen involvement;

Core concepts and principles.

Programming Opportunities Base concepts education

Public engagement planning

Tools & resources

Engaging local officials

Resources My page on the LGC website

(http://lgc.uwex.edu/dg/index.html)

LGC Public Engagement Planning Tool

IAP2 Spectrum IAP2 Toolbox

Clear Vision Case Study

Scholarship Opportunities Case studies, exemplars;

Impact measurement;

Examine attitudes of local officials toward civility, civil dialogue, public engagement, and deliberative process and techniques.

Training and education guides.

Local Government Programming In-service

October 22 & 23, 2014Deliberative Governance:Civil Discourse and Public Engagement

Presented by Bill RizzoProfessor & Local Government Specialist

UWEX Local Government Center